From a Blog Post:

On Google Maps, we try to label important places directly on the map tiles. But sometimes, it seems more helpful to just click on a point and ask “What’s here?”. Now you can do exactly that with an option we’ve added under the right-click menu. When you click on “What’s here?”, we give you the most relevant result representing that location, whether it’s a specific address, a natural entity, or a place name.

This feature takes into account the zoom level you’re looking at, and gives you the most appropriate geographical entity at that point. For example, if you’re zoomed in closely on Manhattan, you can get the full address of a point by clicking on “What’s here?”. Additionally, by combining this with the “At this address” feature that you may have seen in the left-hand panel, you can also see a list of the businesses located at that place.

Source: Google LatLong Blog
Hat Tip: Search Engine Land

Word from Google today alerting us that they have just updated their satellite imagery database with new images of Tehran taken on Thursday, June 18th at approximately 11:15 A.M. local time.

You can get a preview via this blog post or view all of the new images using this KML file with Google Earth. The imagery come via the company’s partnership with GeoEye.

The images…were taken from GeoEye’s IKONOS satellite, which images at roughly 1-meter per pixel. We are continuing to work with GeoEye to see if we can provide a higher resolution update from the GeoEye-1 satellite, which would be at 0.5-meters per pixel, but this is subject to weather constraints

You can also find satellite imagery of Tehran via Yahoo Maps (via i-cubed and GeoEye) and Bing Maps (via DigitalGlobe)
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Today, we noticed what might be a new feature (at least to us) from Bing Maps. We’ll call it “landmarks to lookout for” while driving. In other words, as you drive the selected route, Bing offers not only offers directions but also selected locations you’ll pass during your drive to help you stay on course. They’ll also tell you if you’ve driven past your destination.

Here are three examples.

1) A drive from Zip Code 10036 (New York City) to Suffern, New York.
Note event #7 on the route. It states that you’ll pass a Pizza Hut in 5.6 miles. Event #12 tells you that if you make it to a specific location, you’ve gone to far.

2) A drive from 60091 (Suburban Chicago) to Downtown Chicago.
Note event #5. It says that an Embassy Suites Hotel is on the corner. And again, the final event tells you if you’ve gone to far.

3) A drive from Orange County, CA to Beverly Hills, CA.
Event #1 says that you’ll pass a Carl’s Jr. restaurant in 1.1 miles. Event #5 notes that a Travelodge Motel is on the right in less than a mile.

See Also: Info About Bing’s Realtime Traffic Feature, Clearflow

The latest collection of “online maps of current interest” from the Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection. Two interactive maps are included in the collection.

+ H1N1 Influenza (Swine Flu) Maps

+ North Korea Missile Launches and Underground Nuclear Test (BBC News)

+ Korea Maps (PCL Map Collection)

+ North Korea Uncovered (requires Google Earth)

+ Pakistan Conflict Map (BBC News)

+ Air France Flight 447 Path (BBC News)

+ Mexico at War Interactive Map (Washington Post)

+ General Motors Interactive Map (Detroit News)

+ U.S. Economy Maps including Economic Stress Map (AP)

+ U.S. Drought Map (NDMC)

Source: Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection (University of Texas)

Here at ResourceShelf we continue to be amazed at the wonderful aerial imagery (we love the Bird’s Eye imagery) that Bing Maps (formerly Live Maps) offers. If you’ve never looked or haven’t looked lately, this tour* is a great place to get your feet wet

* You'll need to have Microsoft Siverlight loaded on your computer. It’s a free download. If you’re not into downloading Siverlight, you can go directly to Bing Maps and search for a few locations. Again, make sure to check out the Bird’s Eye imagery.

Source: Bing
Hat Tip: @Bing