Google maps easter egg sets pac man loose on the streets

Google has created a new Easter Egg for Google Maps (pretty much just in time for actual Easter) which lets you play Pac-Man in real-world locales on the company’s Maps apps for desktop and mobie devices. It’s easy to play, by either navigating to the Google Maps website or opening the app on your Android or iOS device, and then just searching for a location where Pac-Man might show up.

Google is offering hints to help you find the iconic 1980s video game protagonist, but if you’re in a hurry just search for “times square” and you should see a pixelated map flag icon like the one pictured here. Click on that and you’ll launch into a game with simple controls, letting you control Pac-Man as he evades his ghostly enemies with either the arrow keys on a computer or by swiping up, down, left and right to change direction on mobile.

Rack up a decent high score with your five lives and then share it with others to see how well you can Pac in the streets.

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New York plans to create a citywide wi-fi network

In 2013, Mayor Bloomberg asked designers to reimagine the city's decrepit pay phones as internet-flinging, ad-spitting future machines. The winners were simply design concepts, never truly destined for reality. Now, the city is moving forward with the plan to retrofit its pay phones, after all.

Now, the city's Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications has put out a brand-new request for proposals. This time, it's not for pie-in-the-sky designs—it's for real budgets and designs to create a "citywide Wi-Fi network and state-of-the-art information hubs."

There are roughly 11,000 pay phones scattered across the city, and this plan would retrofit up to 10,000 of them with new hardware that would broadcast free Wi-Fi, financed by ad revenue, within 85 feet of the station. Here's how de Blasio describes the project in a statement:

For years, the question was, 'What to do with payphones?' and now we have an answer. By using a historic part of New York's street fabric, we can significantly enhance public availability of increasingly-vital broadband access, invite new and innovative digital services, and increase revenue to the city—all at absolutely no cost to taxpayers.

The idea, says one city spokesperson to the New York Times, is to "level the playing field" for New Yorkers who can't afford broadband. It's doubtless also to figure out a way to make street-level advertising more lucrative, guaranteeing at least $17.5 million in annual ad revenue for the city.

But there's also a more vital purpose, as the DoITT explains. "While public payphone usage has decreased in recent years, the phones served a critical role during power outages following Hurricane Sandy, as public payphones receive electricity via the phone line and not external power sources," the office explains. These new stations would provide the city with Wi-Fi and access to 911, even if another superstorm takes out our electricity.

This RFP invites anyone to submit a proposal for the project—they're due on June 30, so you'd better get cracking if you've got a plan.

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Uber will deliver a kitten to you today

It's National Cat Day, so obviously the PR overlords of Uber have decided to put the private car service to use by delivering actual kittens on demand to Uber users in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today.

For $20, the stunt-tastic ICanHazUberKITTENS campaign, for which Uber partnered withLOLcats creator Cheezburger, will earn you 15 minutes of snuggly playtime with a kitten you can order off the Uber mobile app just as you would one of the company's black town cars or taxis. You'll also get a delivery of "unique designer cupcakes" created by Duff Goldman, of Charm City Cakes and the Food Network fame.

Uber says all proceeds will go to local animal shelters, but if you can't bear the thought of parting with your furry new friend, the kittens of Uber Tour 2013 are also available for adoption. But act quickly: Whether it's dealing in ice creams or kittens, Uber is notorious for its high-demand PR stunts, and has warned accordingly: “Demand will be high and access to on-demand kittens will be limited.”

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Bargain living in America's priciest cities

You can't afford Manhattan. Probably you can't afford Brooklyn, either. But listen up: Wherever there's a big city that everybody dreams of living in, there is an alternative that gives a savvy renter all the benefits of the city at maybe half the cost.

The same frugal magic can be worked in Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston -- in fact, just about anywhere that rents are sky-high. The keys: Demand good rapid transit links to the brightest lights in the big city, and also look for a rebounding neighborhood that may be a tad too gritty for the monied set.

Skeptical that this formula delivers housing bliss? Tune into the latest numbers from New York, compiled by Realtor Douglas Elliman, which puts the average Manhattan rental at $3,822 and, oh, if you aspire to a prime neighborhood like Tribeca, be ready to plunk down substantially more dough.

Brooklyn rents in the trendy north and northwest sections - Williamsburg, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill - are closing in on those in Manhattan. The Douglas Elliman July numbers for Brooklyn put the average at $3,035.

Do the math. That Brooklyn renter needs to be pulling in over $100,000 annually for many landlords to be willing to extend a lease.

The antidote: Cross the Hudson River into Jersey City and spend under $2,500 for a spacious one bedroom apartment in a newer building, very possibly under $2,000 in an older building downtown, perhaps in a restored brownstone, with convenient access to the PATH subway system that transports Jersey City residents to the World Trade Center on Wall Street in a couple minutes. Trips to 33rd and Sixth Avenue take maybe 20 minutes.

The town's new mayor, 36-year-old Steven Fulop, has announced his "Across the River" campaign to woo New Yorkers to live on the other side of the Hudson.

There are no restaurants or bars in Jersey City? There aren't many, admittedly, but that same PATH train runs 24/7, meaning Manhattan's night life is a quick ride away.

Chicago is your kind of town? Prime downtown neighborhoods are packed with one-bedroom apartments renting for $2,000 to $2,500 per month. So dollar conscious hipsters are heading to Logan Square, where Homescout Realty marketing intern Alexandra Wolf said large one bedrooms can be had for $1,300 to $1,400. It's about five miles from the Loop, maybe 15 minutes on the L train, and it's a neighborhood characterized by stately historical boulevards. To boot, it's now starting to show up on lists of the nation's hottest neighborhoods. Bonus point: Logan Square is home to Hot Doug's, revered by many as the nation's best purveyor of exotic sausages, like the 'Brigitte Bardot' ("hot, hot, hot").

Have $2,500 to spend on rent? If so, you can move right into Los Angeles's trendy Venice Beach or Marina del Rey, where your neighbors all drive newer Teslas or Priuses and will shun you if you motor in with the wrong wheels. Add the car to the rent, and you are left out of the equation?

Head to NoHo, the once dowdy North Hollywood, now riding high as a reborn arts district, and there even is a subway stop on Los Angeles's Red Line, which connects downtown Los Angeles, Hollywood and NoHo. There are many art galleries, dozens of live theater companies and Hollywood studios nearby, and it's an area filled with mid-century ranch homes and modestly priced low-rise apartment complexes.

Expect to pay under $1,500 for a well-located one bedroom and, did we mention, off-street parking will be free and NoHo is not known for snobbishness about car marques.

Don't go looking for an apartment on the cheap in any of Boston's trendy neighborhoods such as Back Bay, the South End, not even in gentrified South Boston. When Rental Beast, a brokerage that tracks Boston's market, last tallied the numbers in mid 2012, it said a two-bedroom in Back Bay would run around $2,857 and, worse, national tallies put Boston as closing in on the lofty rental heights of New York.

Head to South Dorchester, inside Boston's city limits, but a neighborhood where artists, hipsters and others are vying with the traditional Irish Americans for flats in affordable triple deckers and once-grand Victorians that have been carved up into rentals.Three bedrooms rent for $2,000 and bargain hunters can still score pleasant one-bedrooms for just a bit more than $1,000 per month. Look for convenient access to MBTA train stations -- Fields Corner and Ashmont are the ones to be near - and you can be in the restaurants of Harvard Square in just a very few minutes.

Add it up and ask yourself: Does it matter where you sleep? So, now you know where to rent.

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Stephen Colbert has the subway kitten on his show

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DC and New York will compete in a food truck showdown this August

D.C.’s pizza apparently can’t compete with New York’s, and it seems its local markets, bartenders and bakeries don’t stand much of a chance, either. But on August 3, local food trucks will have one last chance to defend the District’s culinary honor: They’ll be facing off against several New York trucks in a “throwdown” at 2nd and K street SE, near Canal Park.

Organizers are still nailing down some of the details, but a previous throwdown in Boston worked like this: Food trucks gathered, Truckeroo-style, to serve a crowd of local customers and play up some healthy rivalry. A panel of judges tasted each truck’s food; one city was crowned the winner, with various smaller awards for best crew, best truck design and the like. (Locals, take heart: Boston has beaten New York twice.) Trucks typically serve their normal menus, said organizer and competitor Dennis Kum, but they’ll consider a theme if someone sponsors it: In Boston, for example, each truck concocted a dish with Maker’s Mark bourbon. Is it too much to hope a local brewery will step up here?

D.C. hasn’t finalized its line-up yet, and the judges are still TBD, Kum says. The New York trucks will include Kum’s Big D’s Grub Truck (Korean tacos), Chinese Mirch (dumplings and the like), Nuchas (empanadas), Phil’s Steaks (Philly cheesesteaks), Rhong-Tiam (Thai), Uncle Gussy’s (Greek) and — perhaps most concerningly — Wafels & Dinges, the Belgian waffle truck that once bested Bobby Flay in a Food Network contest.

Interested local trucks can get in on the action by contacting the D.C. Food Truck Association. We have one suggestion for them already: Brian Farrell, of D.C.’s Basil Thyme, posted a comment on the Yelp event listing asking why he wasn’t invited.

“Just let us know where to sign, and let’s make it happen!” he wrote, which might be just the fighting spirit D.C.’s food trucks need.

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America's snobbiest cities

When you browse Santa Fe’s galleries, a love of art isn’t necessarily enough.

Ysmay Walsh makes a point to dress up when she gallery-hops along the city’s Canyon Road. “I feel like I have to step up my game a bit, because I wanted to be taken seriously at the galleries,” says the founder of residential guide MetroSeeker.com. “Without a certain appearance or air about yourself, gallery owners barely acknowledge you when you walk in.

That attitude helps explain how the otherwise diverse and quiet Santa Fe made the top 10 snobbiest cities, according to Travel + Leisure readers.

To determine which city has the biggest nose in the air, we factored in some traditional staples of snobbery: a reputation for aloof and smarty-pants residents, along with high-end shopping and highbrow cultural offerings like classical music and theater.

But we also considered 21st-century definitions of elitism: tech-savviness, artisanal coffeehouses, and a conspicuous eco-consciousness (say, the kind of city where you get a dirty look for throwing your coffee cup in the wrong bin).

No. 1 San Francisco
San Francisco has cultivated its reputation as a serious foodie city, and readers gave it high marks for both fine dining and ethnic cuisine, even if they did also experience some sticker shock. To shop at hip boutiques, browse galleries, and dine among the cognoscenti, check out the Hayes Valley neighborhood and its Absinthe Brasserie & Bar. Any snobbiness didn’t stop San Francisco from being acknowledged for its welcoming attitude: the city also ranked first in the survey for being gay-friendly.

No. 2 New York City

The fast-paced manners of New Yorkers may put off some visitors, but there’s no denying that the Big Apple has ample reasons to be proud: it ranked at the top of the survey for its theater and art scene and for dressing to the nines. Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, with its exclusive clubs and stiletto-heeled crowd, is one see-and-be-seen area, as is Williamsburg.

That said, many New Yorkers’ definition of cool has more of a laid-back, off-the-grid feel: an example is Brooklyn’s Greenwood Park, a beer garden with 60 brews on tap and a bocce league.

No. 3 Boston
In this college town steeped in history, visitors may detect a certain air of superiority: after all, the locals rank near the top for their Ivy League-worthy brains and for supporting old-school culture, such as the symphony. On Harvard Square, you can tap into that brainpower by browsing high-concept bookstores—from Grolier Poetry Bookshop to Schoenhof’s Foreign Books. But there is one realm where Bostonians falter: their driving, which ranked near the bottom of the survey.

No. 4 Minneapolis/St. Paul
Perhaps readers felt intimidated by these bookish, indie-music-loving, craft-beer-drinking hipsters, who also ranked highly for being exceptionally tidy. If these Minnesotans feel self-satisfied, is it any wonder? They also scored well for being fit and outdoorsy; you can join them at the Chain of Lakes, where, depending on the season, folks are hiking, paddling, or even ice-surfing.

No. 5 (tie) Santa Fe, N.M.
Georgia O’Keeffe’s old stomping ground certainly ranks as an A-list art town with readers: it won the survey for being a cultural getaway and scored highly for its museums. Beyond the galleries and boutiques of Canyon Road, the New Mexicans also came across as being pretty affable—but it may depend on your topic of conversation: the city ranked near the bottom for its sports bars.

No. 5 (tie) Seattle
In this city of coffee connoisseurs and tech-savvy early adopters, it can be easy to feel hopelessly out of step. To relive the city’s pre-Internet tech scene, check out the Museum of Flight (home of the original Air Force One) or Everett’s Flying Heritage Collection, launched by Microsoft alum Paul Allen. And you don’t have to be schooled in contemporary art to appreciate the city’s Olympic Sculpture Park and its view of Puget Sound.

No. 7 Chicago
It’s not just hot air: one reason that the urbane Windy City made the highfalutin top 10 is its renowned theater scene, although it’s hard to call the sketch work at Second City, or the improv at iO Chicago Theater, snooty. A favorite among serious architecture buffs, Chicago did win the survey for one great (culinary) equalizer: pizza.

No. 8 Providence, R.I.
These New Englanders seem to embrace a café-culture attitude: after all, the city ranks No. 3 for cafés (such as the techy, artsy AS220) and No. 4 for cutting-edge performance art. Even its No. 1-ranked burgers exhibit a little healthy pretension: the sliders at beloved Harry’s Bar & Burger are 100 percent Hereford beef, and you can wash them down with a local beer (served, quirkily, in a 68-ounce boot).

No. 9 Washington, D.C.
The locals ranked as some of the unfriendliest in the nation, but the cultural scene—such as the no-admission-charge Smithsonian—is very democratic, and the city ranked first in the survey for free things to do. If you want to dine like a local power broker, though, check out the mod Rasika West End, which exemplifies the city’s fine ethnic cuisine and counts Michelle Obama as a fan.

No. 10 Charleston, S.C.
That refined, Old Charleston drawl may have you instinctively calling the locals “ma’am” and “sir.” The city seems to be owning its genteel attitude, too: the hot lunch spot these days is Slightly North of Broad, which combines locally sourced southern fare with innovative cuisine, and cheekily goes by the acronym SNOB. The city also ranked near the top for antiques, design shops, and romance.

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Empire State Building light show

Nutella food truck to tour the country

Hold on to your croissants, everybody, because the Nutella Truck is coming to town. (Well, unless you live in Boston, in which case the Nutella Truck was already in town and you totally missed it. Sorry.) In order to spread (get it) breakfast-y good cheer and the gospel of Nutella, the hazlenut-chocolate goo company is hitting the road on a twelve city "Breakfast Tour." They're giving out free samples — "up to 5,000 13 oz. jars while supplies last" — and they're lugging around a giant inflatable jar of Nutella. The truck is currently in New York City. Everybody panic, here's the schedule that includes Philadelphia, DC, Atlanta, New Orleans, Dallas, San Francisco, and more:

Nutella's Breakfast Tour Schedule

· New York: September 29 - October 5
· Philadelphia: October 8 - October 13
· Washington, DC: October 16 - October 20
· Atlanta: October 24 - October 27
· Orlando: October 30 - November 3
· New Orleans: November 7 - November 11
· Dallas: November 15 - November 19
· Phoenix: November 24 - November 27
· San Diego: November 30 - December 2
· Los Angeles: December 5 - December 8
· San Francisco: December 11 - December 15

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America's dirtiest cities

In July, Atlanta became the latest city to ban smoking in public parks, with frightening fines—up to $1,000—for offenders. But keeping butts off green spaces came too late to help Atlanta’s ranking as the No. 5 dirtiest city in America.

As part of the annual America’s Favorite Cities survey, Travel + Leisure readers ranked 35 metropolitan areas on the features most enticing to travelers, like culture, dining and shopping—as well as how tidy a city feels.

The cities that scraped the bottom of the cleanliness category may show signs of grit, grime, or muck, but they all have some basic features in common: they’re big, and most have a bustling nightlife. To be fair, though, plenty of “dirty” cities are working hard to mitigate the squalor. And of course, plenty of travelers are willing to accept a little dirt in exchange for the experience of a great city.

1. New York City, NY
After ranking a tidier No. 5 last year, NYC has regained its No. 1 spot for grit and grime. Some have argued that littering fines here—up to 10 days in jail—should be tougher, but pollution isn’t always just what you see or smell: New York also won the survey for being the loudest and rudest city. Plenty of voters embrace that over-the-top personality, however: the city also ranked first for its theater, stylish locals, and luxury stores.

2. New Orleans, LA
Between hurricanes and the tornado of detritus that comes with Mardi Gras every year, Crescent City can be forgiven for having a tough time keeping up with debris. Some would say it even complements the city’s old-style but offbeat atmosphere: it’s also the No. 1 city for wild weekends, bars, and friendly locals.

3. Baltimore, MD
Does this Maryland city need an army of cats? County officials have been reportedly getting more complaints about rats this year, which may be one reason the city creeped up from last year’s No. 6. But plenty of voters still see Charm City’s lovable side, ranking it well for its classical music and quirky locals.

4. Los Angeles, CA
That bad rap for smog has been hard to shake—especially when the Lung Association has ranked L.A. in the top three for the nation’s worst air pollution. The bright side? Voters still found the sunny skies appealing and applauded the city’s less-than-gleaming features, such as the classic burgers and kitsch-filled flea markets.

5. Atlanta, GA
The Sun Belt city moved four spots closer to the Most Dirty prize this year, and ranked next-to-last for feeling safe. Atlanta is trying to get rid of one unsightly presence—cigarette butts—by banning smoking in parks, with fines of up to $1,000. Readers otherwise liked the city’s genteel shopping and the unapologetically messy barbecue.

6. Philadelphia, PA
The City of Brotherly Love is moving in the right direction: last year, it ranked a gritty No. 2. Even so, while readers like that they can walk around town so easily, that may have given them an up-close view of the litter. Luckily, voters were also easily distracted by Philly’s fabulous microbrews and plentiful pizza.

7. Dallas/Fort Worth
According to data, the Dallas area may have less of an ozone problem than Houston, but it still leapfrogged over its fellow Texas city and into the Dirtiest 10 this year. Perhaps voters didn’t find enough green space: the cities ranked last for their public parks. Locals here may prefer ballparks instead—these Texans also ranked in the top 10 for being sports-crazed.

8. Miami, FL
The Florida city—home to extremely polluted soil, according to one recent study—is holding onto its AFC spot from last year, and voters seemed to sense an overall chaos around town: Miami ranked near the bottom for noise and won the award for the nation’s worst drivers. But the locals still look fabulous: they ranked near the top for their style and good looks.

9. Memphis, TN
Memphis has improved five slots since last year, perhaps thanks to concerned citizens who can report litterbugs’ license plates on the 52-Clean hotline. Offenders get only a scolding letter in the mail—perhaps proof of the locals’ easygoing nature. Voters also put Memphis in the top 10 for its purposely sloppy barbecue and unrestrained music scene.

10. Houston, TX
Houston also made the American Lung Association’s top 10 for the worst ozones in the nation. If you want a nice excuse to stay indoors in this oil town, use the highly ranked burger joints and antique shops; the city also ranked well for being pleasantly affordable.

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The race from DC to NYC

Seven staff members at the Washingtonian took seven different ways to NYC to see which method was the best value. Here are their results (in the order of slowest to fastest):

BoltBus ($33)
High: Seats had ample legroom, and the bus was quiet except for one college kid on his cell.
Low: Bus took a long detour around traffic. The AC froze our rider’s window-side arm; it was hard for those in window seats to plug in an electronic device; spotty wi-fi.

Vamoose ($30)
Low: About ten minutes before scheduled departure, our tester received an e-mail saying the bus was delayed 45 minutes. Once en route, passengers were chatty and some children whiny.
High: The bus was clean, and our rider’s seat had an outlet.

MegaBus ($30.50)
High: As with BoltBus and Vamoose, check-in was easy, the bus was clean, and the seats were roomy.
Low: As on the other buses, wi-fi was spotty. The upper level of this double-decker can seem as if it’s swaying—you may feel nauseated if you sit up top.

Car ($104)
Low: Our staffer who drove sat in traffic on DC’s New York Avenue—it took an hour to make it out of downtown. In Manhattan, it cost $38 to park overnight.
High: On the upside, he could listen to whatever he wanted on the radio—and sing along in peace.

Amtrak Regional ($138)
High: The trip itself was fairly uneventful and pleasant.
Low: Arriving at New York’s Penn Station was a different story: The line for a taxi was long and didn’t budge after 25 minutes. So our traveler hoofed it a few blocks in the heat and hailed a cab.

Acela ($242)
Low: Our tester’s seatmate sang to himself the entire trip. Also unfortunate: “The seat was hard; it reminded me of a dentist’s chair. And bring layers—the train was freezing.”
High: If you get hungry, the cafe car’s cheese plate is a good bet.

US Airways
High: Our tester booked a flight just three days before her departure, and there was little difference between coach fare ($418) and first class ($457). She opted for first class, and it was smooth sailing.
Low: The cab from LaGuardia Airport to Manhattan cost $40.

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