With a cooler summer and work a tad bit closer to home...I've been walking home a lot more these days. If I don't walk, it is still a bit of a walk from the subway to my home.

And, for whatever reason (well, I was contemplating eating a cake), I got to thinking about how much I actually do walk on any given day?

So, to Google Maps I go and VOILA! - They now offer Walking Directions (in BETA).

By Car - about 10 minutes (in reality, a lot more because this doesn't consider traffic patterns)
Walken - about 1 hour and 7 minutes (in reality, if I can make it home without going into a store, it is about 45 minutes).

I love this. I can see myself using this a lot when I go to other parts of town I may not be familiar with or going to another walkable city.

The other cool thing is that if you choose the Satellite and Photo's version, you get a marketing engine. That's right.

For all you small businesses out there - make sure that you add your company/store photo to Panoramio, the engine driving the photo's. Cause 'hey', if a user is looking up an address and sees a photo of your store, it may be just that, that makes them go inside when they are in your hood. Or for a nicer user experience, for those looking for your store, it is a way for them to know exactly where it is.

Can't wait for this to work on my mobile.


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