Driving Routes Online

Driving can be a lot of fun if you know just the right route to take. How many times have you been stuck in traffic, shifting constantly, feeling the urge to shout out the window, when you could have just waited an hour in a nice cafe and had an effortless drive home?

Unexpected weather conditions, construction or accidents can also really throw a wrench into your plans. With online maps, there is really no excuse to suffer. You will need an accurate site to guide you, but which one should you choose?

Google search may trump Microsoft by eons, but Microsoft Live Search Maps gives the Google Map site a run for its money. The Live Search menu is easy-to-use and aesthetically pleasing by design. The menu on the left-hand side lets you search a specific place on the map, lets you get driving directions or you can share your online maps with others.

The routes are generally good, but may mislead you down a weird street or off a roundabout exit from time to time. The "Bird's Eye" feature is really cool, which started the whole zoom-in/zoom-out craze that the other map sites now use. Microsoft also has an interesting 3-D map feature that works with Internet Explorer.

Online maps are currently the best way to obtain driving directions and local business information. Since the world is constantly changing, with weather, construction, accidents, traffic congestion and detours altering the way we get from place to place, it is crucial that we have resources which can be updated in real-time to make our commutes easier and more hassle-free.

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Online Driving Directions

Most individuals understand that maps are so much more than a few lines or symbols on a piece of paper. Maps are the gateway to our understanding of the world, as well as showing migration patterns, continental climates and places of great biodiversity at-a-glance.

Presently, customizable online maps have opened a window of opportunity for having fun with maps. The course to our favorite restaurants and the cheapest gas stations can be plotted, or you can find local news. Modern day maps are so much more than basic driving directions.

Google Maps has become the template of choice for a number of local food maps. At www.menurequest.com, you can plot restaurants on a map of your city, as well as read/write reviews, make reservations and get driving directions. In Philadelphia, www.communitywalk.com is an amazing resource for local event organizers who want to ask a number of nearby restaurants to participate.

At www.toeat.com, you will find a number of dining options in your neighborhood. In major cities like NY, Paris, Bangkok and Chicago, you will find baked goods at www.yummybaguette.com. Or you may need to get your burrito fix at www.burritophile.com. Drinkers can appreciate www.drinktown.com, which lets you know all the local booze specials.

As you can see, street maps are so much more than just compendiums of driving directions. Today's online map is part travel advisor, part photographer, part encyclopedia, part Yellowpages and part friend.

You can read reviews of local businesses, learn about tourist destinations in a Wikipedia window or even find bus schedules. Google Maps. MapQuest, Yahoo Maps and MSN Live Earth are all competing sites vying for your attention. The best news is that all of this is easy to use and free!

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Google Maps With Many Online Features

Google Maps is a free mapping application found online at www.maps.google.com. Web users can plot out street maps for walking, biking, driving or taking public transit. They can also search local businesses or international businesses based on location in a certain city or proximity to a current location.

Using Google Earth overlays, users can also view the globe like never before, and using satellite maps and real-time successive photos allows users to see popular city streets exactly as they are, as viewed through a camera lens.

The "My Map" mashups are like the social networking community of online mapping. Here you can create free customized maps, search in between two destinations, check out weather information, find your way around natural disasters or search through a number of useful utilities.

One cool Google Maps mashup is the useful "Search In-Between" widget. Once you add this function to your maps, type in exactly what you are looking for, for example "gas," "food" or "restroom," add the start and end locations, then enjoy your map of all the gas stations, restaurants or rest-stops along your route!

Road trippers just love this feature when navigating new places. Similarly, the "Places of Interest" mashup shows you the bars, ATMs, eateries, churches and more along your route.

As of 2006, Google Maps became accessible on mobile phones, which was obviously a huge breakthrough for the online mapping community. Now they are viable competitors with GPS devices, paper street maps, 4-1-1 service, the Yellowpages and other cell phone application creators.

The "My Location" feature turns your cell phone into a global tracking device so you can automatically use your position as a way-point, even if you do not know the exact address.

So far, the Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Nokia/Symbian, BlackBerry and Java platform phones and Palm Pilots can all access a Google map, although every new phone will likely have the capability in the future.

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Google Earth Map As A Guide To Your Destination

Google Earth map can be used to scout for locations prior to your next trip. You may want to view your location before you arrive, to look out for specific structures, to confirm you are at your desired destination.

When you are visiting Google Earth, you can zoom in on your desired destination and see if there is allocated parking and locate the tourist structures. For example, you may want to visit the Grand Canyon and you want to view the best way to get there and view the tourist structures. You may want to know what has changed since the last time you visited there as a child.

You will be armed with a lot of information before you leave for your trip. I always use my navman to guide me to my tourist spot, so that I am not lost on the way. I make a lot of trips, as part of my work and I need to ensure I am at the location on time and do not waste time searching for the location.

I find the location on my tourist maps and then view the location on Google Earth map. I then set up my navman in my car to guide me to my location. Using this system has helped get to the location on time and plenty of time to set up my photographic gear to do a photographic shoot.

The secret to my success is preparation with Google Earth map.

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Satellite Photos To See The Earth From Above

Satellite photos can be used to determine the weather, to locate buildings in your area and for determining terrain in certain locations. Satellite photos have been used to plan military tactics to win wars.

When you look at online satellite photos, these images may not be the most recent photo of the location, showing the most recent constructions in the area. But, if you are looking for a tourist location and you want to know where the nearest restaurant and any other tourist hot spots nearby, looking through satellite photos may help you find the best locations.

You can access satellite photos online. When you go to the weather bureau, the photo you see of clouds over the continent taken from above the earth, these are all satellite photos. They can help with determining weather patterns and what is happening around the world.

Some online satellite photos can be zoomed in and you can see your whole neighborhood including buildings, roads and more. The only problem, some of these photos may have been taken years ago, so you cannot see any roads or new buildings constructed after the photo was taken.

So when you look at satellite photos, keep in mind, the images may not show the most recent snapshot of an area.

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