Via Karlo.org, I found out about MapBlast’s new way of mapping driving directions. If you’ve ever used MapQuest or some similar service, you’ll know the software spits out a street map with your route highlighted together with a table telling you where to turn and how far to drive along each segment of the route. MapBlast effectively combines these pieces of information by creating a vector diagram of the route. The relative scale of each leg is not built into the map scale, but is provided as a number on each segment. The principle is similar to the map of the London Underground, which presents a stylized picture of the geography in order to focus the rider’s attention on what’s important: the relations between the nodes (the tube stations). The same thing is true of the LineDrive maps. What matters are the decision points—- where to turn, and which way—- and the vector diagram captures these very nicely.