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Mapping the Independents
Have you found a great place to buy vintage jackets? Have you just eaten the best vegetarian pad Thai this side of the Mekong River? Do you want to use the Internet to tell more than just the six people on your LiveJournal friends list about your amazing discoveries?
Look no further, consumers of indie culture. Torontoist reader Peter has told us that 9tomorrows has launched its Tupalo service in Toronto.
Plugging into the ubiquitous Google Maps application, Tupalo allows you to tell the world about your favourite indie record shops, hip cafes, vegetarian haunts and volunteer services (among many others), plotting them on a map for the world to see.
Tupalo also incorporates user-submitted reviews and a rating system to help you decide whether you really want to trek all the way to Kensington Market for that pair of classic Converse sneakers, or if a place on Queen East might offer a better deal.
The service is just getting off the ground, but shows promise. Anything that’ll help people easily find the alternatives to fast-food restaurants and big-box stores deserves some support. And if you’re planning an out-of-town vacation any time soon, keep your eyes on Tupalo. Vienna, Austria is already active on the site, and they’ll be launching the service in 20 to 30 other cities around the world in the near future.
Photo by 6oh from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.