Telling a story with Facebook

The United Nations Refugees Agency (UNHCR) posted an interview with colleagues trapped in their compound in the Ivory Coast on their Facebook page.

The posting succeeds because it's (1) immediate, (2) authentic, (3) informative and (4) visual.

Small details make it come alive: "This morning, one of the refugees gave birth and she named her boy after our security officer, Bizo."

This isn't your standard press release reposted to Facebook.

It's a pity that the best option to endorse it is to "like" it.

Die train! Die train!

The German national railways has launched an elegant new iPad application that plots your routes Indiana Jones-style using Google Maps. The transportation information is not limited to Germany, it has the entire European time table. Notably, this even includes the city buses and trams in my city of Geneva, Switzerland.

Above is a sample trip across the Alps to Milan. As an added bonus, the application will even add trips to your calendar.