There is a brief explanation how to run apps as root (for personal menu) here: http://www.internettablettalk.com/fo...6&postcount=33 You will have to change it to launch GPE-filemanager (unless you follow the mehtod to let everything launch as root).

Also, for the map application you can just add a new entry and select "Map" from the list of installed applications. Does that work for you?