NCPC's Interactive Map Makes It Easier to Visit Memorials

Photo by Thomas S. Mann

With the recent opening of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the revamping and expansion of the African-American Civil War Memorial, while the Washington Monument is closed due to cracks from the earthquake and leakage from Hurricane Irene, it's getting hard to keep up with changes to DC monumental core.

Now the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) has come up with a tool to help out visitors and residents alike. It's an interactive map that shows the location of memorials by type (military, presidential, scientific, diplomatic, artistic, and other categories) and also allows you to search for a specific memorial. If you don't find the information you're seeking on the main website, you can click on links to other help pages, including information on new memorials in the works, renovations, and more.

There is also a link to a comments page so that you can send the NCPC your thoughts and recommendations. The interactive map is still in its early stage, and so your comments and suggestions stand a good chance of leading to improvements.

How to Catch a Cellphone Thief: A True Story

A couple of months ago I wrote about how to use a smartphone's technology to track and catch an iPhone (or other smartphone) thief. It's a simple and either free of very low-cost solution: Get an app for your smartphone that lets you track it. Apple recently made this feature free for all iPhone users.

And guess what's happening? Stolen smartphones are being recovered and crooks captured. A carjacker in New Jersey was caught by the police in just 7 minutes last week because the car's owner had left his Droid phone in his car. Moments after his car was stolen, the victim went to his laptop, went to the password-protected website through which he could track his phone, called the police and gave the police the precise location where they could find the armed carjacker.

Everyone who has a smartphone should get a tracking app and deploy it. Be sure to note your tracking app's logon information, including the website you need to go to, username and password. Smartphone thefts are on the upswing and this is a great way to capture the bad guys.

Geography Confusion

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Cartoon by xkcd