I’ve just stumbled across Quikmaps (beta), a web app that uses the Google Maps API to let you scribble on maps in a variety of ways and then save them and share them. As soon as I started playing with Quikmaps it became clear this is an impressive piece of programming, but it is useful as well, and very intuitive. It took me no time at all to draw my daily bike commute to work, adding interesting sites along the way.

The map I made is here, but Quikmaps also gave me the code so I can embed it thus (this seems to wreak some havoc with the javascript for Google ads at the moment):

The real clincher, however, is the fact that whatever I make with Quikmaps gets an automatic KML link for Google Earth, like so. Bravo!

This is one of just a few Google Maps-based applications that I can see spontaneously returning to when I need to make a quick map — an apt name indeed. Make sure to take it for a spin yourself. (Via GIS Geoblog)