When Google Maps and Google Earth software made satellite views of the planet free last year, people started mixing up their own sets of data into the maps. As the blog Google Maps Mania shows, such mashups are legion. Suddenly subway directions, cheap gas, apartment rentals, city muggings, tiki bars, and UFO sightings have got a pushpin on a homegrown Google map.
The first mashup released by Google itself yesterday underscores the search giant's understanding that maps wield ecological might. Google worked with the makers of Earth Day to create its Green Summer pages, an eco-friendly sightseeing guide for the top five U.S. vacation destinations: San Francisco, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York, and Orlando. It plots the locations of raw foods restaurants, eco-friendly resorts and hotels, and plays videos to show off the businesses. And of course, you can search there for more green stuff. Sort of like Green Maps, only more interactive.
