Computer and Web Articles

Looking at and reviewing different websites is an integral part of my job, and seeing new things on a daily basis keeps my work fun and fresh.

Not too long ago, I clicked on a link from a design portal site and found myself at Map24, located at www.us.map24.com. Not sure what the site was about, I filled in a few fields, clicked on a few buttons and very soon found myself staring at my monitor with my jaw halfway to the floor.

I couldn’t stop thinking, “THIS … IS … SO … COOL” and immediately e-mailed the link to a dozen or so friends accompanied by a note that went something along the lines of “HOLY COW, you need to go to this website and take a look around - I swear you’ll never want to use another map website again!”

For years now I’ve been using MapQuest.com and Yahoo! Maps to look up driving directions and to view maps of unfamiliar areas. The information I received from these sites was sometimes good, sometimes bad. After finding Map24, however, I simply can’t imagine returning to either site again.

After you conduct an address search on Map24, a little Java program is loaded and you find yourself zooming in on the location you requested. If you type in “Frisco, Colorado,” for example, you’ll find yourself looking at an image of North America, which quickly and ever-so-smoothly zooms in to the center of the U.S., then to Colorado, then to Summit County, then right to Frisco.

All of the sudden you’re looking at a crystal clear map of the town - and unlike other mapping websites, you’re not asked if you’d like to have the local hotels or fast-food restaurants highlighted on your screen!

On Map24, the searching is quick, the interface is easy to use, and the animation is fluid. Once your final map has been drawn for you, you can use the nifty tools in the small toolbox provided to drag the screen in all directions, zoom in and out, and measure distances.

Clicking the “Driving Directions” button will allow you to type in your starting and ending locations, for which Map24 will happily locate the best possible driving routes - all with stunning clarity and quickness, and without a plethora of interfering ads.

I was showing Map24 to a good British friend of mine the other day, and we clicked the “Map24-International” link, then the “United Kingdom” option. He was able to zoom in to the exact block on which he grew up and point out local attractions and features by simply dragging the map around.

Map24-International is offered in 11 different languages and provides detailed mappings of 18 countries.

After this positive review of Map24, I must add one disclaimer: I’ve only used the site on computers with fast internet connections; I’m not sure how responsive it will be for those of you using dial-up.

After learning about Map24, though, I was so excited I just had to share it with my wonderful readers. I hope you find it as useful and exciting as I do. Try it out and let me know what you think.