Things I didn't know about Google Maps

Well, I thought I was reasonably familiar with Google Maps, after all, it has been around for a while and it is everywhere. They are free for any business to embed in their web pages so have become very popular for "where are we" maps on sites. They are much more useful since you have a live map that can be zoomed and panned, rather than a fixed picture of a map.

I've even experimented with plotting points myself on my own hosted maps. But I am glad that I looked at the 'tour' linked from the library program's site. Here's what I found:

• You can place your own markers on the Google map for all the world to see
• You can edit other markers that may not be accurately positioned
• The "Get Directions" feature actually works quite well

I had already heard about the Street View feature, which is remarkable technically and makes it fun to look at places you know as well as places you haven't been. However, being a little older I am sympathetic to the people that are worried about privacy concerns. Our house hasn't been photographed, being off the main thoroughfare.

It's worth mentioning that Google also give you Google Earth, which is even more fun. It uses the same map data as Google Maps, but gives you a 3D globe that you can fly around.