When you goto New York, 1 of the 2 places people want to visit the most is the Empire State Building (the other being the Statue of Liberty). I have only been to the city 1 time in my life, but we spent way too much time walking around to get a chance to see this building. The Empire State Building is taller than a quarter mile, and has an observatory for visitors on the 86th floor (1,050 feet). You can get a great view of the city from up here! One great thing about this observatory is that it is open day and night, 365 days a year, so you can pick when and how you want to see the city. I think I would enjoy viewing everything right at dusk. The Empire State Building also has a couple restaurants, coffee shops, a virtual reality movie theater that shows a virtual helicopter ride, art exhibits, and more. Between the Empire State Building and its close surroundings, you could easily spend a day of your vacation here!

Google map image: Empire State Building

If you are ever in the Rochester area, I highly suggest having lunch downtown at the Dinosaur Bar-B-Que. It is what I used to refer to as a white-collar biker bar. Why? You used to get a lot of people during the day that came from work to grab a quick lunch. In the evening, you get a bunch of bikers that show up to have a drink and bite to eat. You also get a lot of families/friends that show up before events at the Blue Cross Arena. A high variety of people join at the Dinosaur! I used to work across the street, and loved to eat there! They had by far the best BBQ I have ever had, and I loved the atmosphere. I felt like it was the perfect way for me to relax during the busy day. I almost always ate their BBQ Chicken sandwich...i can taste it as I write! Since I am no longer in the area, I watch the paper and signs on the side of the road hoping to see something about them bringing one into Buffalo. I guess my chances are good that they will. They have had one in Rochester and Syracuse for awhile, and I just noticed that they now have one in NYC. If they keep expanding, Buffalo will be sure to get one! Until then, I am going to keep buying their sauces at the local grocery store and cook up my own great BBQ.

Google map image: Dinosaur Bar-B-Que

When you think of company "campuses", you usually think of some technical company like Microsoft or Google out on the West Coast. Even though other campuses are not as big, they are spread all over the country. Dell has their own campus which is comparable in size to the larger ones. It is located in Round Rock, Texas, just north of San Antonio. If you are not familiar with the company, Dell is the leading personal computer company in the US. They are well known for their customer service, great price, excellent selection, and top of the line quality. Even though I would recommend anyone to try an Apple computer, Dell would be the first choice I would offer to anyone else! Other than the size of the Round Rock campus, there is really nothing else too impressive with it. It really just looks like a bunch of grey buildings with a ton of cars around it. Dell only uses this campus as the company headquarters. They also have manufacturing plants in Austin, Texas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and many countries around the world. The size of Dell just keeps expanding to take care of the amount of purchases they get from their happy and loyal customers.

Google map image: Dell

So, what is all the talk going to be this weekend? You will most likely hear everyone talking about the 78th annual Oscars that will be held on Sunday, March 5. Since I do not know most of the movies that will be shown, I will be more interested in seeing the individual actors/actresses. The event will be held at Kodak Theatre, located in Hollywood, CA. I was worried that I would not be able to find the theatre on Google maps, but how can you miss a building that has the name of it written on its roof! With all of the new mapping tools out on the internet, I think this was a brilliant idea on Kodak's part. The Kodak theatre holds about 3400 people, has 3 levels of balconies, and 24 theatre boxes for people to sit in. There is also a press area setup to talk with the celebrities, and a 40,000 square-foot ballroom being catered by World Famous Wolfgang Puck. It will be a great event to attend, but I will have to enjoy everything through my television screen!

Google map image: Kodak Theatre

They say San Francisco is a great place to visit when you are in a shopping mood. On the Easy Coast, everyone flees to NYC for their shopping excursions, so I guess San Francisco is the NYC of the west! Right in the downtown portion of the city, you will find the San Francisco Shopping Centre (also called Westfield). With over 130 stores inside this shopping centre, you are sure to find what you are looking for! I think (being the geek that I am) the best part of the mall is that the entire place has wifi. I have never been in a mall with wifi before, but I bet it would be a great atmosphere to just sit, relax, and surf the web! Also, Nordstrom offers valet parking. I am sure there is a charge for it...but like other malls that do this, they will probably wave the cost of valet if you buy something at their store. I will make it a point to visit here whenever I finally make it to San Francisco for a vacation!

Google map image: San Francisco Shopping Centre

In the fall of last year, there was a huge gas scare throughout the country. Prices jumped so high that I really wanted to limit my driving. I felt that there were 2 main reasons for this price hike. First, the war always takes its toll on oil prices. The second issue had to be the hurricanes that were hitting the Gulf Coast. The first major hit was Hurricane Katrina. We all know the damage she did! The next hurricane that was coming through was heading right towards Exxon's refinery near Baytown, Texas. With all of the thoughts of what Katrina had just done, many people were nervous that the same thing could happen to the area around and including where Exxon was. Even before the hurricane hit land, the prices at the pumps were at an all-time high. The prices lowered after the hurricane season ended, and they have been pretty steady recently (although still high). Take a look at the map image to see the details and massive size of the refinery. The detail you can get on the map in impressive. My favorite part of the image had to be the 2 oil tankers docked on the south-west portion of the refinery.

Google map image: Exxon

Yesterday, there was a very large announcement on Wall Street about Disney purchasing Pixar. This was a very big shock to me. Pixar is the company famous for the animated movies like "The Incredibles", "Toy Story", "Monster, Inc.", and many more! Their work has been able to revolutionize cartoon movies. Everyone knows what Disney is responsible for, so I will not go into that! It will be interesting to see what the merger brings about, so keep your ears and eyes tuned to the upcoming events! Currently, Pixar Headquarters is located in Emeryville, Ca. The map image has to be the best image I have ever seen on Google Maps. The color and the detail of Pixar's building is out of this world! I am really interested to know what that design in the courtyard actually is.

Google map image: Pixar Studios

Short Posts today...sorry! The Sears Tower is the largest building in the North America. It was built in 1973, and it was classified as the largest building in the World until 1997. It is still classified as the largest building for height of occupied floors and for height to the rooftop. The Sears tower has 110 floors and is 1454 feet tall. It is located in Chicago Illinois. Because of the aerial view, you cannot see the actual height of the building, but take a look at the shadow the building is casting and the shadow of other buildings. This should give a good idea of the size of this building!

Google map image: Sears Tower

Today is a very big day for anybody that eats, sleeps, and drinks Apple. One week after all of the other major computing companies has given their big announcements at the annual CES (Las Vegas), Apple will start their Macworld Expo with a Keynote from Steve Jobs. Not only does he talk about what the company has been up to, and what direction they are moving towards, but Steve always announces new products in his Keynote. I will call this part of his Keynote the "New Products for the New Year" segment! There are always a few things that is expected to be released, and then Steve always has 1 or 2 things up his sleeve that he releases. Personally, I am very excited to hear what will be new for the year. Since I just posted about the Apple Campus, I decided that I would show the map image of the Apple Store in San Francisco. Whenever you see pictures of an Apple Store, you are either seeing this one, or the Apple Store in London. I guess these are the signature stores for the company. The map image did not show a lot, so I did 2 things. First, I left the search on in the map image to better show where the store is. Second, here is a link to a few Apple Store San Francisco pictures to better give you an idea of what the store looks like. I am not sure where the Macworld Expo is located every year (although I know it is in San Francisco), but the Apple Store would definitely be one place I would have to visit if I was going to the Expo.

Google map image: Apple Store

"Your fired"! Donald Trump has not only become a huge tycoon in America, but now has a large audience that sits down every week to watch his reality TV show. One building he has that is widely known is called the Trump World Tower. It is located in New York City, and is probably the most luxurious residential buildings in the City. Apartments in the building can include 1-4 bedrooms up to a penthouse suite that may have a formal dining room, a maid's room, a fireplace, etc. Trump's website stated that this building was created to "rival the worlds five-star hotels". To do this, they added amenities and services like a spa/pool, a restaurant, a wine cellar, etc to the building for its guests. I am not sure if the restaurant is open to the public. With everything that is given in this building, you have to expect to pay top dollar for an apartment in the Trump World Tower. Their website sated that the cost would be between $952,500 - $13,500,00+. If you buy one of these, please invite me over sometime so I can see what they actually look like!

Google map image: Trump World Tower