Jennifer Van Grove is a Social Media Strategist. She authors a blog about San Diego, technology, startups and social media at JenniferVanGrove.com.

Google Maps has become the standard mapping utility for everything from getting directions and finding nearby food options to viewing the surface of the moon. Are you getting the most out of your Google Maps experience? Keep reading to get some helpful hints on how to maximize (or minimize) all your mapping desires.

Make sure to leave us a comment and let us know about the Google Maps mashups, tips, and tweaks you love.

The Basics Search

Be specific. You’ll find what you’re looking for if you type exactly what it is you want to map. If you’re looking for gas stations, which is especially handy when using the mobile version on the road, just type “gas.” Based on your present view (city, state, zip etc), you’ll see gas stations pop up in the same vicinity. Once you’ve clicked on a specific location you can get directions, search nearby, save for later, or edit the location by either flagging it as inappropriate, moving it, or claiming it as your own business.

Don’t forget to drag the little man icon onto the map for street view (where available), or select “More” to view photos and/or wikipedia entries associated with your search.

Keyboard Shortcuts

You can use your keyboard’s arrow keys to move your view slightly North (up arrow), South (down arrow), East (right arrow), or West (left arrow).

For a bigger jump, use the page up and page down keys to dramatically move North and South. The home key will jump West and the end key will help you navigate further East.

Likewise, the + key will zoom in and the - key will zoom out. You can also zoom in and out with a mouse or the two finger touch (up and down) on a Mac. Simple right?

Advanced Tricks Map an Exact Intersection

Should you choose to map a specific intersection without street numbers, simply type “STREET1 at STREET2, CITY, STATE” for a map of that intersection.

Use Extensions

There’s a variety of Firefox extensions that you can install to make your mapping mission a little more seamless.

I personally prefer Ubiquity for my mapping shortcuts. You can select an address on any page, initiate the Ubiquity command screen, qualify your query with “map,” adjust the map to your liking, and insert it in an email. Love it!

Reference API Tutorials

Should you choose to leverage the API to create your own concoctions, you might want to reference both the Google Maps API Tutorial, and Google Map Parameters mapki to the get the most out of your mashup.

More Advanced Tricks

The PCMechanic video below has a few handy tips for using Google Maps, including configuring Firefox for quick access to google maps (:30), using saved locations (1:12), and finding latitude/longitude coordinates (1:55).

Maptastic Mashups

One of the coolest things about Google Maps is that users can create and submit their own custom maps, which means you can have immediate access to these super cool mashups simply by clicking “My Maps” (it’s right next to “Get Directions”). Think of this area as your own online map community. It’s where you can find your saved places, search in-between destinations, and browse pretty useful utilities from weather information to disaster-related maps.

Search in-between

Search in-between is so simple, but so incredibly useful. Just add it your maps, select it, type in exactly what you want (like “gas”), add the two location end points, and you’ll get a map of all the gas stations on your route. This is an especially convenient app for road trips (I used the search in-between feature on my two cross-country drives, it really comes in handy when navigating unfamiliar territories).

Plus, if you have an iPhone you can utilize the iPhoneSender Safari bookmarklet or Firefox extension to save all your fabulous search queries and send them via email, with a phone-friendly link, for safe keeping and easy access on the go.

GasBuddy

GasBuddy, from GasBuddy.com, is a featured mashup that lets you type in the city, state, or zip where you want to search for gas prices and locations. It’s another standby for me. Cheap gas is a godsend in this economy, and GasBuddy is my little angel.

Places of Interest

Places of Interest is another nifty little tool that maps pretty much anything of interest including bars, ATMs, food (by food type), and even places of worship. This custom map supports viewing of up to 5 different options at one time.

The action-sports enthusiast may enjoy Outdoor tracks by GPSies.com, which includes custom maps for a variety of activities including hiking and jogging trails, geocaching locales, and maps for more intense adventure seekers interested in climbing, mountain biking, and winter sports.

Google Moon

For the moon walker in you, there’s always Google Moon. With geologic and topographic charts, and elevation options, you’ll feel like a real universe aficionado.

Mashups You Love

I always poll my smart and savvy Twitter network when I need to find the best in web-related goodies. They recommend:

HousingMaps.com

A clever little mashup, HousingMaps.com shows Craigslist listings across the country. Users can filter by city, price, housing type, listings with pictures, and any additional keywords. The end result is a detailed map with housing options side-by-side with a color coded text list. (Recommended by @searchguru)

Gmaps Pedometer

Gmaps Pedometer is a simple site that lets you calculate the distance between specific points you plot on the map. You can turn mile markers, elevation, and the calorie counter on or off based on your personal needs. In addition, you can save your favorite routes for future reference. (Recommended by @shanehale7 & @CatherineLarsen)

Robocall Tracker

The Twitter Robocall Tracker: Map of Robocalls is a mashup of a variety of open APIs with the purpose of plotting reported robocalls (you know those annoying prerecorded calls you can’t avoid). Users can report a call, view other reported calls by locale, and listen to the actual audio from a handful of reported calls. All reported incidents are screened and associated with the name of the Twitter user who submitted the original report. (Created by @EndTheRoboCalls)

Mobile Map Goodness

The beauty of Google Maps is that you’re not restricted to browsing at home. Google Maps for mobile works on a wide variety of phones including the iPhone, and all phones with Windows Mobile and Android operating systems. The mobile version supports a majority of the standard Google Maps functionality including My Location (regardless of whether or not your phone has GPS), Street View, Directions (public transit), walking, or driving, Business Listings, and Traffic information.

Wikitude AR Travel Guide for Android

G1 owners (and future Android users) have the added bonus of being able to play with Wikitude AR Travel Guide, an augmented reality app with location-based Wikipedia content. I haven’t had the opportunity to test it, but according to their website, one bonus is that “users may hold the phone’s camera against a spectacular mountain range and see the names and heights displayed as overlay mapped with the mountains in the camera.” Check out the video below for a really neat peek at what this app can do. Um yeah, can I get that on my iPhone please?!?

Now It’s Your Turn…

Tell us about the mashups you use, the tricks you live by, and the tweaks that make you weak in the knees.

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Related Articles at Mashable | All That's New on the Web:

Google Maps Hangs Up on Click-to-Call
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Google Maps in (Almost) 3D
Visualize Recent Edits to Google Maps
AdSense is Coming to Google Maps
Google Maps Street View

An asylum seeker who fled her African homeland is awarded £38,000 damages for unlawful detention.

An asylum seeker who fled her African homeland is awarded £38,000 damages for unlawful detention.

A fifth boat in two months is found carrying asylum seekers toward Australia.

divimg alt="" src="http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/75372?ns=guardianpageName=World+news%3A+Millions+of+Chinese+graduates+out+of+work+after+fivefold+rise+in+university+placesch=World+newsc3=The+Guardianc4=China+%28News%29%2CInternational+education+news%2CEducation%2CWorld+newsc5=Not+commercially+useful%2CEducation+Weekly+Education%2CStudents+Educationc6=Tania+Braniganc7=2008_12_04c8=1128381c9=articlec10=GUc11=World+newsc12=Chinac13=c14=h2=GU%2FWorld+news%2FChina" width="1" height="1" //divpSu Yinyin's family were thrilled when she won a place at university. As impoverished farmers, they knew it promised a comfortable middle-class life and a giant step up the social ladder for their daughter./ppBut now Su, 21, is wondering whether she can reach the next rung. As she looked around the heaving employment fair in Beijing, where 10,000 job-seekers vied for the attention of recruiters, she acknowledged that her parents' pride was increasingly tinged with anxiety. "When I became a student, it was both happy and worrying for my family," she said. "We are not rich. I took loans for university. I just hope I can get a stable job after graduation and repay them."/ppMore than 6 million Chinese students left university this year and up to a quarter are still struggling to find work. As the global slowdown bites, students such as Su know it can only get worse./pp"The grim economic situation poses an unprecedented challenge for college graduates to get a proper job," the ministry of education warned yesterday./ppBut the problems predate the crisis and mark both a success and failure on China's part. "The number of graduates increased too quickly - by 2006 there were already five times more than in 1999. The labour market can't take that big an increase in such a short time," said Professor Yang Dongping of the Beijing Institute of Technology, the author of a report on graduate employment./ppThe expansion of higher education reflects China's aspirations: the world's factory needs more skilled workers to move up the chain, away from cheap mass production. Yet there are not yet enough higher-end jobs. Four million graduates in recent years have yet to find their first job, according to officials. However, the true figure is probably higher as the current system relies on reporting by universities, who have a vested interest in showing that graduates can find work./ppGraduates are now competing with people made redundant. "I've had interviews, but they want people with experience," said Liu Jing, who has been job-hunting for six months. "There are more graduates, so there are more competitors for every post."/ppLike Su, she hails from a farming family; she had hoped to earn 2,000-3,000 yuan (pound;200-pound;300) a month to pay off her 20,000 yuan education bill. Now the 21-year-old will settle for 1,000 yuan./ppHigher expectations are clashing with the deteriorating economic reality./ppUntil 1981, the government assigned jobs, with those who dreamed of becoming engineers sometimes ending up as cooks or clerks. But while their parents took the work they were given, these students grew up in an age of personal choice. They expect fulfilling jobs and good remuneration; few want to leave the big cities or take up underpaid teaching work./ppGuo Qing, 22, should not have been at the fair at all: he found a design job after graduating this summer. But he admitted he packed it in not long afterwards. "I was very picky when looking for jobs before. I felt this or that didn't fit me. Later I realised it was my problem, psychologically," he said. "Our education was idealistic. But you realise the gulf between realism and idealism once you reach the real world. When you're job hunting you have to be practical."/ppYang thinks China needs to change, too. "Only 6% of the labour force has higher education, much lower than in most developed countries. There have to be structural problems," he said./ppSpending per student has slumped by almost two-thirds and most investment has gone into new buildings. Yang said that meant a drop in teaching quality and an explosion in liberal arts courses, while resource-hungry subjects such as engineering have lagged behind./ppThe government is reining back expansion and promising more help with job-hunting. But many of this year's graduates are hoping for more direct support. On Sunday, a record 775,000 applicants sat civil service exams - 130,000 more than last year - for only 13,500 jobs./pp"I didn't think of beating so many candidates," one graduate told the state media. "But I have to - because I've submitted my reacute;sumeacute; to about 60 firms and got only 10 replies, and no offers." /pp· Additional research by Chen Shi/pdiv style="float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"ullia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/china"China/a/lilia href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/internationaleducationnews"International education news/a/li/ul/diva href="http://www.guardian.co.uk"guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href="http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html"Terms Conditions/a | a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html"More Feeds/a pa href="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/8T8vZCh3c7tqIl2s6KGZHfJL3n0/a"img src="http://feedads.googleadservices.com/~at/8T8vZCh3c7tqIl2s6KGZHfJL3n0/i" border="0" ismap="true"/img/a/p

The European Commission calls for fairer and more efficient procedures across the EU for asylum seekers.

The European Commission calls for fairer and more efficient procedures across the EU for asylum seekers.