More hacks of, and news and commentary about, Google Maps:

• Hey Google, Map This! Wired’s Daniel Terdiman covers the various Google Maps hacks out there, some of which we’ve seen before here on The Map Room, some of which we haven’t.
• From that article, two that we haven’t seen before: this one mashes up Google Maps with traffic conditions (with GMaps); this one mashes it up with the Chicago Transit Authority network (with Greasemonkey). (You’ll need Firefox for the latter, and possibly the former.)
• Sex Offenders in Texas by Zip Code, another GMaps-based mashup. “This web site allows you to plot sex offenders on a map by zipcode and then be able to display the offense details by clicking on their names. It uses Google Maps for the map display and the state’s online Sex Offender registries for the offender data. Currently only the State of Texas is accessible, but the plans are to add other states.” Thanks to Chris Miles for this link. See previous entry: Megan’s Law Maps.
• The story that a Google Maps search for “brothel” turns up all sorts of surprising results has been getting lots of play on the Web. Despite the nutty conspiracy theories espoused in the article by some people on the receiving end of such searches — “brothel” returns Abstinence Clearinghouse, Schadenfreude all ’round — ZachsMind’s explanation on MetaFilter is more likely.
• Update: This page mashes up Google Maps with GasBuddy to map locations for cheap gas. Via MAKE: Blog.