The best online mapping software...

... bar none, belongs to Google Maps.

'Released' only yesterday, the brain trust at Google has completely re-engineered the typical interface, re-designed the maps to have a European feel (wider streets, etc), and transformed the mapping experience into something you could play with for hours on end. It is cool!

If you have read my earlier posts, then you realize that Google knows how to monetize this effort. Create a tool that attracts users, who in turn refer others (such as this blog entry), thus causing advertisers to sit up and take notice. For example, if you own a sushi restaurant, then you want it to appear in the listings when someone searches for sushi restaurants in their neighborhhood.

Minting money. Google (from googol) referred originally to one thing, but now it refers to the amounts of money this company will make. That reality applies as well for its shareholders; days such as today are opportunities for investors. Who knows -- perhaps the share price will decline in the near term even deeper than it already has? And yet, compared against the long term future for the company and its shares, who cares?