New google maps street view and more ...
It has been quite a while since I used google maps. I saw a posting in kottke today, where he described the street view in New York. Wow. That is something very cool. In the few times I have used googlemaps or any other mapping software, the one thing that I have always had a problem is, how does this place 'look'. I know I need to look for the next traffic light and turn left on (say) Brokaw. But it would have helped immensely if I knew that there was the big Bank of America building just before the lights ! Much easier to recognize than squinting towards the sky trying to read what the green street sign board on the intersection says. I then proceeded to just check out Tampa, Fl (my alma mater), to see if the googleguys consider this city as a 'big city'. Much as I expected, it was not. I did notice something else which blew me away though - HARTLINE (hillsboro area regional transport) bus stops neatly marked. Wait, it does not end there. Click on a bus-stop, and a pop-up shows you the buses (by number) that stop here within the next one hour. Is that not amazing !