Have you ever wondered what catches people's attention first, when they see a map of the world, election bulletin, your family photograph, or the Google website?

Well, now there's a tool called Feng GUI, which allows you to do exactly that: upload any picture and create a "heatmap" of it. The points on the heatmap show the main focal points and areas of attention on the picture.

While the tool can be very interesting for web designers, who can test prototypes of their websites, as well as photographers, and video makers (yes, they've got a video version of it as well – see a trailer at the end of the post – exciting!), we at Way to Russia were really concerned about the impact of Feng GUI on our motherland, that is Russia.

The first thing that came in mind, was to scan the recent 2008 President Election Bulletin, and look what we found:

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Check out our new interactive map of Russia on Google... You will find brief descriptions of the major cities, destinations, and train routes, as well as links to more information.

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The Way to Russia guide to Ekaterinburg is now online. Make sure you read it in detail here. It's the most comprehensive guide you'll find to Ekaterinburg in English anywhere, except for on the official Ekaterinburg tourism website (yes, there is one - I was shocked as well), but obviously their only intention is to glorify their city so their information can't be trusted. The Way to Russia guide features plenty of reviews and information about hotels, sights, clubs, bars, restaurants as well as all the practical information you need for a visit to the capital of the Urals. And now that the guide is online, it seems like a good time to write about my experiences in the city.

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