One of the nice features of Google Maps is the ability, given to developers and web masters, to host customized maps on their own web sites. The available features of this free API are almost countless, and the documentation on the Google Maps API web site is superb.
In the last few weeks I've done quite a few experiments with maps and geocoding (the options of getting the coordinates of an address), using both Google and Yahoo services. I built web pages, customized web servers written in Delphi, client applications fething Yahoo map images, and more. Some of the work was displayed at the Delphi Day 2006 conference in Italy, including an image of the Italian towns where the attendees were from, including the number of people from each town.
This week, with the help of an intern (Jacopo), I've built a map with a very special set of addresses of customers... click on the markers and you'll see the company name: Can you tell where they come from? Can you find Underwater Sports Co.?