My Very Inefficient Use of Google Maps and Yahoo Maps and Others

Well, I am not copping out about this (strange figure of speech, isn't it?).  I am not very good at this mapping.  No, I'm learning and Google's Maps is very good.  I was amazed that we kept getting a little more at a time out of this program in class the other day.  And I say "we" loosely, because I didn't really have a whole lot to input on the discoveries.  But, once again, the more a person uses something, the more proficient they will become.  Right?
  So, I checked out "mapping programs" in Firefox, you know, just to avoid the conflict of interest with Google.  And, I don't really think anything comes close to Google's stuff.  They, Google, have their infrastructure firmly embedded.  Yahoo probably is the closest, if it was to be called a contest.  No, they are the closest.  It's a clone program.  In fact, that's what I discovered about all of them.  Yahoo's creation is in beta phase, but it does look impressive, key word "looks".  I don't know, it just seems a little more aesthetically pleasing.
  That is a point I've noticed about Google.  The little things, the details, like their color palettes and icon designs and such.  It's almost like someone that's sense of beauty is stuck in the drab olive green and burnt autumn gold of the '70s.  Maybe it's just my perception of it that's skewed.  I'm not sure.  But I'll say I am.
  Thing is, I honestly didn't have enough time to fairly dig into mapping programs and do them justice.
  With Google, functionality is there.  Say what you will.  And that is exactly why there were umpteen gillion clones lined up in my browser.  They openly referenced Google Maps and Google Earth.  If I am going to use those programs Goole Maps and Google Earth), I want them from Google.  Not "anzhaloosmarvelousmapmaker.com" or "drivewithusyoucantrustus.gee/whiz".

Marble is intended to be a "light version" mapper

  There was one called Marble Portable, but it had obvious shortcomings, like not going to street level.  But hey, it's intended as an educational tool.  Another, Seterra, below, looked fun.  It has mapping exercises, which are a good idea.  Of course, most programs of any caliber these days have tutorials.
  I stuck to the free stuff by the way, as there were mapping apps for sell aplenty.  I wonder do they really sell any?  I mean, you know, when I get payed, that's the first thing I can think of that I want. A map-
ing program (that some enterprising 12 year-old whipped up in his bedroom on the Mac he got for his birthday.  I qwit.

Maybe it's all the
blue that made
this look
like a
lot of
fun

                                     Yahoo has
                                  incorporated
                                     Flickr into
                                         this
                                      project
                                  right, below