Not all these hacks are about about making or playing with maps. In "Mapping (On) the Web," Hack #36 shows us how to "Shorten Online Map URLs" using free Web services. Hack #38 gives step-by-step directions for adding GPS location info to your blog or RSS feed—specific hacks for Movable Type and Radioland are included.

As for playing with maps, you won't want to miss Hack #43, "Map Earthquakes in (Nearly) Real Time." This hack uses newly-available machine-readable data from U.S.G.S. RSS feeds to plot earthquakes at almost the same time as they occur. Yum!

Even more delicious are the gadget hacks. The wide availability of GPS-enabled devices provides a wealth of location data that cries out for application. From simple hacks like getting maps on your mobile phone (even if it's not GPS-capable), and accessories for your GPS device, the authors go on to cover converting GPS location formats, downloading to create trace logs using your GPS data, and (Hack #62) building a car computer for GPS navigation, a "project that will consume all your time and money, but make you the envy of your nerd friends."

Chapter 6, "Mapping on Your Desktop," gets into a truly map-obsessed terrain. Several high-power applications are discussed, all of which will allow you to produce densely-informative maps using online or GPS-derived data. (Hack #64, for example, introduces GRASS, which allows topographic data from anywhere in the world to be assessed for landforms. This allows you to evaluate broadcast shadows, among other applications.) From this point forward, the hacks address the sliver of the populace committed to creating and interpreting location plots. For example, Hack #79 tells us how to "Geocode a U.S. Street Address." Why? To enter it into your home-made car computer, of course!

Whether you're interested in maps at slightly more than a "how do I get there?" level, or professionally involved with plotting locations and geographic distributions, Mapping Hacks has something in it for you. All 100 hacks are intriguing, and several generate results that are simply stunning. This is the computer wonk's version of a coffee-table book, beautiful and built for browsing.