Google Maps

Just time for a quick post on the way out the door, but Google Maps is now in public beta, and it's very cool.

First, the quality of the online maps on offer is really excellent, a cut above what I've seen elsewhere. Their street maps of New York City helpfully indicate major streets by highlighting them in yellow, for instance. (See, for instance, my immediate neighborhood.)

Second, Google Maps not only understands standard location and directions queries, it also understands queries like "hotels near LGA" (or other airport code, obviously) and "restaurants near 100 Main St, yourtown, yourstate" (or, even more specifically, "pizza near 100 main st...")

This one gets bookmarked in the massive links toolbox instantly.

Hmmm... this wouldn't be a bad web front-end for Keyhole... (see earlier, related post)