By now, you’ve surely heard about Google Maps. This is a very cool mapping service, which easily blows away both Yahoo! Maps and Mapquest. As with most other services, it could always stand to be closer at hand. It seems that someone has created an extension for the Firefox search bar, which brings it closer. Personally, it’s still too far away for my taste.
Instead, I went to the Google Maps site and right-clicked on the search box, choosing to add a keyword for this search (creatively, I call mine “map”). Now, I simply select the address bar and type in map 28212 (for instance) and it takes me there. Very quick. Very close-at-hand. I love it.
Incidentally, if you use Firefox and are having trouble getting the map to display, make sure you go to Tools > Options > Web Features > Javascript Advanced and make sure Change Images is checked. Google Maps won’t work if it isn’t.