I <3 Google

I think it's pretty clear to most people who know me that I love Google and would have their babies...or at least go work for them in a snap if given the chance (dream job much). I've often thought about writing some kind of post along the lines of 'the ten Google offerings that have changed my life' or some such (blogger being a good example) and maybe I will, eventually. I mean, if you don't have an iGoogle homepage you are seriously missing out (even if only on having virtual fish to feed, not to mention your news streams, email, web cams and link collections all in one place no matter which computer you are on). Gmail is the singe best web mail program I have ever used and I still forward all my accounts through it mostly because of its god-like spam filtering. I have a Google random button on my Google toolbar that gives me website suggestions based on my browsing history... and that thing has opened my already bulging eyes to the wonders of the internets (and is rarely wrong except for the time it took me to Maxim...go figure!)Then there's Picasa, Google Earth, gtalk, Google mobile (for the PSP) and the list goes on and on. I'm not going to link them all, half the fun is working it out for yourself, but if you want to start changing your world, go here.

Now this is not what I was planning to blog about today, but something Google did rocked my world...street view! Yeah yeah I know it's old news, but being away from home I didn't realize just how powerful it would be to virtually walk the streets of home (my favorite kind of walking) with just the click of a button! I can literally drop in and take a peak at a whole bunch of favorite places. I'm so thankful that Australia was on the list for the initial mapping. Wheee!

So here are a few notable spots. Feel free to send me any favorites!

Boat Harbour Beach, Tasmania...one of my favorite places in the world (Jo's family have a house there but that street hasn't been mapped)

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Latrobe, Tasmania, where I grew up...This is my old church/primary school.

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The Macquarie Street Foodstore in South Hobart with its fantastic view up to the mountain.

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Snug...

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And the entrance to our apartment complex here in Texas, complete with crazy person walking in the heat and police car.

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