Maps

We read with great dismay Jerry's response to R. B. of Canoga Park regarding "a store that specializes in maps and travel books" in Travel Tips Oct. 4. R. B. need not have looked farther than her backyard: MAPS, etc. is at 21919 Sherman Way in Canoga Park just east of Topanga Canyon Boulevard. As the only complete map and travel bookstore in the west San Fernando Valley, we also carry foreign travel maps, USGS Topo maps, hiking books, nautical and aeronautical charts, raised relief maps and globes, as well as sales and marketing maps for business.

Two independent research teams have used a new method to develop the first detailed maps of the places where DNA is likely to be reshuffled in the genomes of African Americans, creating a tool that will help find genes that cause disease, scientists reported Wednesday. The new maps pinpoint thousands of "hot spots" on chromosomes where recombination — a gene-swapping process that is crucial to creating genetic diversity but is sometimes linked to disease — is likely to occur.

Microsoft Corp. said it had acquired a British online mapping company to enhance its Windows Live Web-based services. The software maker did not say what it paid for Multimap, which provides street-level maps, travel directions and local information as well as hotel and restaurant booking services.

David Shaw's article ("Stretching a Trip by Leaving Nothing to Chance," April 8) struck a familiar chord. My wife and I have found that the carefree joys of living and eating well without reservations have become impossible, even off-season. Not only do we endorse Shaw's approaches, but we go further. After determining primary and alternative places we want to visit, we study all necessary maps and write out driving instructions for each day in detail, giving directions, route or highway numbers and all other pertinent data including in-city directions.

Purported images of the sixth-generation iPhone have leaked onto the Web and show a slightly redesigned phone with numerous small changes. The leaked photos show frames for the front of the iPhone that would seem to validate reports of a longer screen. The photos show the iPhone's screen will retain its width but will be a little taller to accommodate a near four-inch screen. The back frame of the alleged next iPhone also appears and shows a slightly changed design that includes metal plating on the back, according to the photos, which were obtained by 9 to 5 Mac from "supply-chain sources.

Hoping to preserve fading and fragile architectural diagrams, the Irvine Co. has launched an ambitious effort to digitally scan and archive all hand-drawn maps of its many commercial properties. The project is designed to help the Irvine Co.'s property managers work more efficiently--and help the company sign leasing deals more quickly, staff said.

Teacher Ed Tooley calls the poster-sized maps he expects from his seventh-graders "Project U.S.A." The maps showcase major land formations and landmarks that make each state special. For the past few years the two best have been sent to the White House. That honor on Tuesday went to 13-year-old Devon Sorenson of Northridge and 12-year-old R.J. Johnson of West Hills.

Computer prophets have long predicted that in the future, a software program would be able to instantly map out detailed directions to drive between any two addresses in the country. The future has arrived, and it's a first draft. "Road Trips Door to Door" is a new CD-ROM that marks a significant advance in the digital genre known as routing software.

The space shuttle Endeavour roared off the launch pad Friday at the start of a long-delayed mission that is aimed at producing the best-ever three-dimensional images of Earth's surface. The six astronauts on board will spend 11 days in space bouncing radar signals off cities, fields, mountains, forests and other features that shape the planet between its polar regions.

Irate viewers in Britain prompted the BBC Friday to abandon a new TV weather map that made the south of the country look bigger than the north. In a country famous for obsessing over the weather, viewers had bombarded the public broadcaster's website with complaints about the new graphics. The BBC said it would change the "tilt" of the map to allow viewers to see more of the north of England and Scotland. The newly revised map will make its debut today.