> I thought this may be of interest to Maps API users internationally
> (combining as it does the magic words "Maps api" and "money") - the
> results have just been announced of the prestigious "3rd Mashup Award"
> held jointly by Recruit and Sun Microsystems and sponsored by a long
> list of major companies here in Japan.
> [See the full list at http://jp.sun.com/mashupaward/ - this link is in
> Japanese].

> There were 198 entries this year. A total of 30 awards were made by
> sponsors, with a first prize of 1 million yen (around $10,000 or
> 5000pounds).

> The overall winner for 2007 - and recipient of the 10k, is a fabulous
> maps api mashup - http://ongmap.com [English link] created over the
> last few months by an occasional poster to this list - Yuki Naotori.

> His mashup is fully bilingual and integrates vast amounts of
> information from all around the world and makes it available through a
> single interface. It really is quite astonishing.  [Small disclaimer
> of interest, I gave him feedback on his English help file.]

> The top three awards went to:

> Overall winner:
> ONGMAP.COM (http://ongmap.com/) English/Japanese

> Other major awards
> StartCommand (http://www.startcommand.com/) Japanese
> authr (http://jp.sun.com/mashupaward/ for link, not posted yet...)
> Japanese

> As part of the prize, Yuki will make a speech at the Web2.0 Expo in
> Tokyo in November -  [http://www.cmptech.jp/web2expo/eng/index.html]
> so if you happen to be there look out for him.

> Yuki speaks/writes excellent English, so if you want more information,
> I guess you can contact him though his blog.

> For a brief intro to Ongmap and what it can do, go here.
> http://ongmap.com/

> help files in English are here:
> http://ongmap.com/blog/?page_id=134

> V.
> http://diddlefinger.com [no - I didn't enter...]