Map Hacks on Crack

The internet's two largest search engines are begging to get hacked. On Wednesday, Google opened a set of programming interfaces for its popular Google Maps service, in the hope hackers will overlay the maps with data from outside sources -- such as wireless cafes. Just one day later, Yahoo announced its own set of programming tools for its map service, Yahoo Maps. Both companies are hoping the new mapping APIs, or application programming interfaces, will excite developers, help the companies find new employees and, perhaps most importantly, result in free product prototyping.