renovation
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Google Maps updates streetview for New Orleans, reminds us the jazz plays on
In many ways, Google's Streetview is a document. A snapshot in time. Usually, this amounts to pictures of a sunny clear day in downtown Localsville, but it can also be a reminder of times less bright. Since Hurricane Katrina, the city has been working hard to rebuild neighborhoods and communities, and better prepare itself for the future. Today -- via Google's Lat Long Blog -- Mayor Mitch Landrieu proudly announced that Streetview has been updated to reflect those efforts, and show New Orleans in that familiar, sunny way. Whether it's Congo Square ("the birthplace of jazz"), the city's parks, or more recent features and attractions, Landrieu proudly extends an invite to all of us to come take a look, enjoy the virtual tour, and "whet our appetite." We say put the Gumbo on.
5th Avenue Apple Store's iconic glass cube to be reinstalled
Apple has begun construction on the glass cube at the Fifth Avenue Apple Store in NYC. According to building permits, Apple is replacing the glass on the building and upgrading portions of the surrounding plaza. The renovations will cost a whopping US$6 million, which is just shy of the $7 million Apple originally spent to build the structure in 2005. Plywood walls now surround the iconic cube, and scaffolding is expected to go up in the next few days. Work should be completed by the end of November. So much for those summer and fall photo ops.
New York's Tekserve gets major facelift
It's one of New York's great indie Mac retailers, made famous by Sex and the City and made successful by thousands of loyal customers... but, if we're going to be frank about it, it was a little bit cluttered and cramped. That's why the team at Tekserve spent most of the Memorial Day weekend ripping out the furniture and refreshing the store layout from the (newly sanded) floorboards up. Store manager Paul Rechsteiner showed me around this week, pointing out the custom product tables (topped with wood recycled from the Coney Island boardwalk), the expanded staging area for repair consultations and the small assortment of non-Apple phones alongside the iPhone (Tekserve is a Verizon reseller now, which allows them to sell the iPhone). All in all, the changes make for a more pleasant shopping experience; there are still a few rough spots to iron out, but considering this was done almost entirely by the store's staff in just a few days, it's quite impressive. Tekserve's official launch for the new store setup is this Friday, June 3, and they'll be offering discount specials until July 3 to commemorate the occasion. Check the website for details.
Virtually Overlooked: Earnest Evans
With the latest Indiana Jones film thrilling and disappointing audiences in theaters right now. In true Virtually Overlooked style, we have decided to celebrate this release (which was pretty great in the popcorn-movie sense) by ignoring all the Indiana Jones games that have been put out over the years and look at a Japanese-developed game that takes its inspiration from the series.
East Memphis Embassy Suites getting facelift, two HDTVs per room
Those planning any future trips to Tennessee should put the East Memphis Embassy Suites atop their list for lodging, as each of the 220 guest rooms will soon house not one, but two LCD HDTVs. Reportedly, the $3.5 million renovation project will get underway next month, and when every single room is "completely gutted and remodeled," each one will boast new furniture, new kitchenettes and new carpet. Sadly, there's no mention of how many high-definition channels will be available, but it is notable that the aforementioned changes were put into place due to "guest preferences learned through surveys." HDTVs being expected in hotels? Absolutely.
Royals' HD scoreboard to one-up 'Godzillatron'
We're a bit perplexed as to why the Kansas City Royals are becoming the next baseball team to get a substantial stadium makeover -- considering the team's record over the past few years and all -- but hey, we can't complain about "the world's largest HD LED scoreboard," now can we? Along with the giant board in center field, the stadium will also receive a myriad Daktronics displays along "the fascia of the upper deck along right and left field," and two ribbon boards (each 380-feet in length) will be "positioned in the outfield above the new restaurant / bar and Hall of Fame." All told, $250 million will be spent sprucing up the ballpark, and while fans will be seeing that 100- x 85-foot HD scoreboard next season, the entire project should be completed by 2009.Read - Kauffman Stadium getting $250 million renovationRead - World's largest HD LED display
Virtually Overlooked: El Viento
Welcome to our weekly feature, Virtually Overlooked, wherein we talk about games that aren't on the Virtual Console yet, but should be. Call it a retro-speculative.Wolfteam's El Viento for the Genesis may look like just another 16-bit action platformer, but that's only because it was. But it's not a bad one, and we live in a world now where side-scrolling action games are a rarity. We might as well play some old ones while we're waiting until the end of time for new ones.
