The Coolest Kids in Town: a blog about Baltimore, DC, and the misadventures of two-city life.

One of the brilliant things about having a brother in computer science is knowing someone who can hook you up with little known sites and services, as well as a Google Voice number, before they come out of beta. (Another nice thing is 24/7 tech support - love you!) And now, dear friends, I'm passing some of my favorites on to you. First up is Amazon's Mechanical Turk (delightfully subtitled 'Artificial Artificial Intelligence'). We all know that we can find just about anything on the internets, and we know that you can buy just about anything on Amazon , but sometimes the best results come from a little human intervention. Mechanical Turk is that human intervention. It was created to do what major corporations can't, by acting as a marketplace where people can either offer their skills or hire people to do the kind of personalized work that computers just aren't very good at doing. For example, you could hire someone to make a list of the top 20 European...

Here in the Mid-Atlantic early March is usually a sign that spring is just around the corner, but with the expectation of another 30 inches of snow this week it appears that winter may not be giving up quite so easily this year. With that in mind, I've made plans to head somewhere greener, somewhere warmer; namely, New England. In travel, as with everything else, prior planning is clutch, so allow me the humble pleasure of introducing you to Duffle : Duffle lets you plan out every aspect of your upcoming trip(s). Just put in the basic trip information to start (when, where, etc) and Duffle creates an individual trip profile to assist in all your planning needs, it even makes suggestions on where to stay and what to do once you're there. It also gives you plenty of organizing space to do things like write yourself reminder notes, categorize your activities, and keep track of your transportation plans. If you're like me, and you've decided to forego flying in favor of a...

So it's now officially the middle of summer and rather than being diligently committed to work you're spending all your free time on orbitz looking for airplane tickets that'll get you out of Dodge and on vacation. Well, Tex and I've got you covered. If you're in need of inspiration because your vacation scheming never got more specific than 'I need to get out of here,' take a look at Atlas Obscura . Atlas Obscura is an online catalogue of the strangest sites the world has to offer. They're even working on organizing tours some time in the near future for the people on their mailing list. You can search for curious sites by category, continent, and country (as well as by state in the US); but if you've got some free time on your hands (and if you're here you clearly do) then try just clicking around on their map. The sites cataloged range from a Plague museum in the Netherlands to the world's largest drain with just about everything in...

I'm in love with a new site: It's an awesome little travel site meets social networking site. It's Lonely Planet meets Facebook , and I am loving it. On the site, you can create a page, make lists of your favorite places, best and worst travel experiences, etc. You can also make recommendations to other readers, network and coordinate travel, check out trip reviews, and even keep an interactive map/journal of your own experiences! Best of all? It's free. Love it. Leave me a note in the comments if you want an invite! Also... The best site I've found so far for international travel search. Like Kayak , it searches multiple carriers' websites at once, so you really can find some fantastic deals. I use it whenever I buy flights to get my second opinion. My first opinion, however, still comes from: Kayak is the best travel search website that I've found so far. It reliably provides low prices, it searches multiple carriers, and it's fast and simple, requir...

So I'm back in CSTX, and you're back in wherever the hell you are , and to celebrate, I'm going to spend my morning sleeping, and my afternoon thinking of ways for us to get the f--- out of here. So here's how you can help: First of all, go here: And read this article: Our Favorite Islands . Note: The price on the first island made me cry. To compensate, I had to take a minute to browse Young Money and quietly forget the fact that my degree is in environmental science. Then, spend some time wandering around here: And put that B-level required geography class to use playing: Afterwards, you will probably be feeling worldly and accomplished. Share your self-congratulatory narcissism with others at the following: The name is only the tip of the disdain. If things get too mature and grammatically correct for you, you can check out: Another user-generated content site with reviews of cities, bars, nightclubs, barbershops, pet psychiatrists, and any other frivolous s--- yo...