Possibly the coolest website ever

No friends, I'm not talking about this site, but thanks for thinking so. So sweet.

What I'm referring to is WikiMapia, an ingenius combination of google maps (which has taken satelite imagery of the entire Earth and compiled it into one massive and detailed map), and the driving force of user editing seen with Wikipedia. What results is really quite incredible, albiet still young: a map of the Earth with the potential for total detail.

These images are of a high enough resolution to pick out your own house, and the system is such that it then lets you label it (though it asks you to make note only of landmarks that would hold general interest). Going through my hometown of Toronto, I picked out several more subtle landmarks that users had already added, then added a few neglected ones of my own (Hart House, I deem thee existant!) Very neat indeed.

Also spiffy is the ability to then search not just by major place (eg city), but by user defined locations. A search for "saddledome" for example brings up the pengrowth saddledome in Calgary, home of the Flames. Just browsing around I tracked down the Mellon Arena in Pittsburgh, and Central Park in New York. Naturally, each user defined place has an optional description, which can then be added or altered by another user.

What You get then, is an incredibly detailed map, with constantly updating, expanding information. You'll need an alright computer to get the most out of it (hi res pictures can be a system hog), but given that you can really lose yourself in it. Highly reccomended.