That is why I have compiled a list of 3 handy dandy features of Google Maps that you may not have known about – features that will help you make it through the day without hitting a pedestrian due to your frustrating experiences like the ones pictured above.

Google Driving Directions – Drag and Drop Routes

For those who really want to customize how they get from Point A to Point B, Google Maps has a tool that allows you to drag the route they have provided in certain directions say, because you know that the driving directions given will require you to traverse a heavily bogged down construction zone. New directions are provided on the spot, as if you had just searched for them. Here’s an example.

In light of the Los Angeles Lakers’ recent NBA Championship, here is a set of directions from the Staples Center (where they play) to The Walt Disney Concert Hall, both in Los Angeles:

Now if I decided that I wanted to go on the Harbor Freeway, CA 110 for some crazy reason, I could drag the route:

Here is a side by side comparison of the driving directions. They are automatically calculated and changed as you drag your route. Pretty neat, huh?

One thing you may need take note of is that your constant dragging back and forth may be cumbersome to sort through. You may find that the final directions you obtain after fooling around with the path is an infinite loop. Although this is a very handy feature, make sure to double check that all of the directions are feasible.

Congestion Overlays

It is every traveler’s worst nightmare to run into accidents, construction, congestion, or an overall slowing down of traffic. This is most likely why Google Driving Directions has provided an extremely useful overlay of your map that describes current driving conditions, with a full blown legend that houses live traffic updates along roads.

The only foreseeable downside to this feature is that it mostly only provides these overlays on larger roads, highways and interstates. Then again, larger roads are the ones that we worry the most about.

I’m sure all of you can read, so I won’t go into detail to explain what the colors mean. Certain icons mean certain things, for instance in the above screenshot, the warning sign denotes some type of accident or stoppage due to hazardous conditions, whereas a small man shoveling coal (or at least that’s what it looks like) denotes construction. A red circle with a line through it means that the current lane is closed.

Let’s say you have a planned event, and you would like to know what the traffic conditions will most likely be like at that time. No problem! There is a feature that allows users to choose the day of the week as well as the time of day, and Google Maps will provide a prediction based on aggregate data it has compiled previously. This should give users a better idea of what to expect on certain roads during rush hour or things of that nature:

Search Box Customizations

Although technically more than one “feature,” there are certain things to know about the direction search box that can prove to be useful when finding directions. Believe it or not, I have had more than one friend come up to me and ask me if there was a way to add multiple “checkpoints” to stop by on along their trip. It’s amazing what you can accomplish if you take time to read:

If we should decide to add a final destination (no pun intended), we can simply click the link and hooray, we have successfully set up segmented directions for a cross country road trip to the Empire State Building:

Google Driving directions also has a dropdown menu for you to choose by what medium would like to travel through. This service may be limited because most of it is still in beta, but certain locations DO give users the freedom to choose. As of now, it is limited to “by car,” “by public transit,” or “by walking”:

Finally, if we click “show options”, we can choose to have Google Driving directions search for routes that avoid toll roads or highways, or both:

So, there you have it. We hope that wherever you go, you drive safely and are aware of your surroundings. Google Driving Directions is an extremely powerful branch of Google Maps – it provides users with a lot of freedom and flexibility to roam around and explore new areas without actually going there.

This article only provides a few of the handy features that Google Driving Directions encompasses, but there is so much more to learn about. Check out other features of Google Maps, as well as their new mobile phone feature!

Has Google Maps helped you map your transit route or get your out of stuck traffic? Let us know how you have used it, in the comments.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Top Mapping Tools: Maps, Local Guides & Driving Directions (12)
• The Five Best Things About Google Maps (25)
• Take Google Maps Offline & Get Maps You Can Print using Google Maps Buddy (16)
• Locate Local Useful Businesses & Services by Address with MashSpots (3)
• HopStop Helps Me Find My Way On The Subway (3)

Sports games have been around for a long time as well (think Pong, for instance), but there aren’t a lot of up to date, free sports games around, never mind car sims. For this article, I went looking for the best (and free) online racing games on the block.

You might recognize some of these car racing games, but I’m sure there’ll also be some new finds.

The Art of Racing

Cars! They’re the first decent toys most children get (toy cars, in particular). We grow up with them. Play with them. Then, when we’re older, we go get ourselves a real one, only to be disappointed we can’t drive 200 km/hr all the time. The closest we’ll get to our childish fantasies is the autobahns in Germany….or racing games of course!

We have two nominees; Driving Speed 2 for the fans of the more realistic driving sims, and TrackMania Nations, a game for the more surreal and acrobatic orientated people among us.

Driving Speed 2

Driving Speed 2, a Wheelspin Studios game, is a highly realistical driving simulator. If you want to drive laps in high detail, this is your man.

The game features two different circuits and eight different cars. You can either play alone, against the computer, or with friends (up to eight players!) using LAN or the internet.

Type: Racing
Platform: Windows
Download: 124.73MB

+ Stunning Graphics
+ Good car physics
+ Great multiplayer
- Only 2 circuits available

TrackMania Nations Forever

If you’re like me, an adrenaline addict, someone who likes the wind not online up front, but all the way around. If you don’t just want to drive but you want to fly. I present you: TrackMania Nations Forever.

TrackMania Nations Forever is a sequel to the immensely successful title Trackmania Nations. In this expansion, we get new tracks, new cars and even more excitement.

TMNForever is a futuristic race game, with loopings, jumps, accelerator zones and so on. You can race for medals on your own, trying to put down the best possible time and thus increasing in the national or global rankings, or online. Here you can test your skills against a multitude of other onliners, on one of the 65 official or 32.000 user-submitted death defying tracks.

Thats right, user submitted. You can make your own tracks and put them online, hereby delivering back to the insanely huge community.

Type: Futuristic Racing
Platform: Windows
Download: 503.87 MB

+ Great graphics
+ Intuitive steering
+ Great multiplayer
+ Over 32.000 tracks available
- Only 1 type of car
- More addicting than nicotine

Also see screenshot

Other Great Online Racing Games

Of course these aren’t the only decent speeding freebies. Read on for a short list of other great free racing games that didn’t make this article.

ManiaDrive (an also acrobatic clone of TrackMania)



Racer – The Real Deal (a cross-platform racing simulator with great looks)



Armagetron Advanced (a 3D Tron clone – very entertaining)



VDrift (a cross-platform racing simulator, focus on drifting)

What free online racing games are YOU a fan of? Drop the links in the comments!

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• Yo Frankie! – Free Open Source Platform Game (16)
• Yahoo! Games: WordRacer is my Boggle Game of Choice (6)
• Two Free Transport Simulator Games (11)
• Toribash Fighting Game – Design & Try Perfect Fighting Moves (17)
• Top Five Free Online Shooter Games – Must Read For Gamers (88)

First, you’re going to need some gas (even if you’ve got one of those classy hybrids). Well say no more:

Gas Bag (iTunes Link)

Gas Bag is a nifty little gas pricess app that will show you local gas stations on a map, prices included. It’s a social network, so coverage may be really good or really bad in your area. It all depends on how many locals use the network and actively record their purchases.

Even so, it has a great interface, is easy to use, and many commenters on iTunes seem to think it works very well for them.

The thing I like most is that it has Google Maps integration. While this isn’t a novel feature, it’s been implemented well. Gas Bag can either determine your position with GPS (or pseudo-GPS) or you can manually search for your location. After it has your location, it displays the six or so closest gas stations. You can zoom in or out for more or less options.

Once you decide to purchase some gas somewhere, there is the option to enter your purchase into the network. I won’t go into the specifics of exactly how that interface works, but I’ll say it’s much better than the webapp I used to use to track my gas consumption. I stopped using that webapp because the interface was a bit too tiny and when you’re in a hurry, entering gas data isn’t something you always have time for. Let’s see if this one lasts any longer on my iPhone.

[rating=3]

Now that you’re all gassed up, you’re going to need some traveling music. Well obviously you’re carrying around an iPhone/iPod, but just as the last App helped you pick a gas station, the following one will choose some music for you.

FlyCast (iTunes Link)

FlyCast is a pretty decent iPhone radio application. Usually I use Pandora’s iPhone App whenever I need some impromptu tunes, but sometimes I crave the discretion of a DJ and a mix of music that doesn’t necessarily match my exact taste.

Over the course of my life, I have been generally disappointed with internet radio because either the selection is way too limited or the player is really difficult to use. On both counts, FlyCast makes up for all that lost time.

The lists of stations for each genre isn’t terribly long, but everything is still pretty well represented. Also, FlyCast pulls from several different radio sources so if one doesn’t work out, you can try another. They are still expanding their line-up, but it looks like they already have over 1000 stations.

The interface is the part I like best about FlyCast. After you select a station (which admitedly can be a bit confusing), it takes you to the main player. From here you can play/pause the music as well as adjust the volume.

I’m a bit confused as to why there is a separate slide for the volume (alongside the iPhone’s volume controls), but I assume it has something to do with the incoming stream needing to be controlled differently.

When the stream is building up a buffer, the WiFi logo blinks blue. The number next to that indicates how much music is buffered ahead of where you’re listening. This is a great feature because it tells you how long you can get out of sync with your signal and still have an uninterrupted experience.

Most stations pull in cover art and song information along with the signal. Because it’s just a regular iPhone page, you can double-tap any cover art to blow it up to full size. If you want to surf the web (especially to find out about the songs you’re listening to there is an integrated browser that should keep the music running as you surf.

The rest of the features are a little confusing. I had trouble labeling anything as a favorite and most of the other options didn’t seem to have any function. Detractors aside, the core function of this App is solid and in a world of terrible internet radio players, this one does remarkably well.

[rating=2]

With music in your soul and fuel in your vehicle, it’s time to fill your body with food!

Urbanspoon (iTunes Link)

Urbanspoon is probably the best App on this list. First of all, Urbanspoon is already a really great food review site that lets people rate their local eating establishments socially.

On their network you can have friends too, so you can see who likes what. The iPhone App is partially an extension of that network because you can sign in and benefit from having an account. On top of this, though, there are a few terrific features that can help jazz up your night on the town.

Above is the “shake” interface, which lets you lock in location, style, and/or price and then give your iPhone a hearty shake. This starts the unlocked sections spinning (complete with some fun sounds). Where it stops nobody knows! After the selection is made, you can either shake it again for a new one, or click the item for information. The App can give you the address for directions or simply show you ratings and pictures to help you make the best choice. If this interface isn’t for you, a more low-key “browse” window lets you search all the places near you by rating, style, or closest proximity.

[rating=4]

Hopefully at least one of these Apps will make your next trip a little more fun! … Oh and, in case you’re travelling abroas make sure to check previously posted 10 Travel Websites that should be Bookmarked.

Let us know if you have any other favorites for traveling.

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• MakeUseOf Your iPhone: Wikipanion (Wikipedia App) (5)
• MakeUseOf Your iPhone: Set Up Voice Dialing With Cactus (8)
• MakeUseOf Your iPhone: iPhone as a Remote Control for iTunes (7)
• Google’s Mobile iPhone App Now With Voice Recognition (3)
• BrightKite On The iPhone Tears Up The Location-Based Ballgame (9)

They sit there hiding and pointing their radar gun. When someone speeds by they are going to get hit with a ticket. Aren’t there SO MANY other ways you would rather spend your money?

Enter SpeedTrap. These guys have a database covering all the United States, Mexico, The Caribbean and Canada. The site is kind of fugly but they are developing a new beta version that looks much more Web 2.0 instead of something circa 1999. You can see their progress on the beta here. But from what I can see the beta version is the United States only for the time being.

According to the website:

The police may be out in the open, hiding behind bridge abutments, or passing overhead in an airplane. Driver after driver is issued a speeding ticket that results in exorbitant fines, points on their driver’s licenses and insurance surcharges. If only there was a way you could share your knowledge of speed traps, in exchange for the speed trap knowledge of others. Well, now there is!

The site is super simple to use. First select ‘View SpeedTraps’ on the home page or click this link to go to it directly.

Click on where you want to find speed traps. Sometimes you can find very specific listings like a specific highway or overpass and other times you can find more broad ranges.

I take the belt parkway over by Bay Ridge daily so I clicked on it to see if my speed trap was listed.

The best part are the comments. For some of my local speed traps a angry motorist who got stopped by the same cop 3 times had this to say in her comment:

“This cop doesn’t care who is speeding – he would give his own mother a ticket. My cleavage didn’t help me at all! He must be gay!”

I know the cop she is talking about and started laughing uncontrollably.

So go check it out. Add some of the speed traps you know and find some you don’t know about today! The more people who use it the more beneficial it will be for everyone!

Do you have another site that helps you out? Do you have the ultimate radar detector? How do you get around – and no, not speeding is NOT the answer .

Did you like the post? Please do share your thoughts in the comments section!

New on MakeUseOf ? Get cheat sheets and cool PDF guides @ www.makeuseof.com/makeuseof-downloads/

• MUO Games – The Best Free Online Racing Games (9)
• MakeUseOf Your iPhone: 3 Travel Apps To Hit The Road With (6)
• 6 Smart Websites To Save Money on Gas (13)
• 10 Very Useful Comparison Sites You Have To Bookmark (23)
• 10 Of The Best Sites To Keep Your Car Running At Top Speed (1)