Boggled by Google. On a Blog.

Alright, so I am by no means completely technologically illiterate, but advancements in our world still never cease to amaze me. The whole purpose of this blog, after all, is to provide me with an opportunity to learn a bit more about blogging, not to mention actually see if I can somehow remain dedicated to maintaining one. Well, that and to have another creative outlet for writing and posting pictures. Plus, all the cool kids are doing it. And I aspire to be cool. Okay, not really.

It's with this in mind that I spent much of the evening exploring the planet on Google Maps. Google -- now parent company to my blog (well, Blogger anyway). And likely the Disney of the next generation. Big, slightly inbred and somewhat frightening. It's not as though I had never used Google Maps before, nor that I had never seen digital hybrid maps, but I was still somehow even more captivated tonight as I drilled down to an incredible level of detail in these maps. It almost felt dirty, the extent to which you can continue to zoom in. Good evening, Big Brother. It was additionally fascinating because I've always been interested in a sort of non-sexual form of voyeurism -- watching people and seeing their differences. Their quirks. Their nuances. Their subtleties. Writing is all about the subtleties, you know.

And here in Google Maps, I could pick any location in the world, take a road trip on the digital super highway and spy on a different corner of the world. Alas, digital jerky just isn't quite the same. Street map, satellite map, hybrid. All in all, an incredible amount of detail. It all stemmed from clicking on my blog visitor map (that's you, folks!) in the tracking mechanism (welcome back, Big Brother!) and seeing where you are all from. Or at least where the tower for your ISP is. Almost creepy, n'est-ce-pas?


Above: The Petronas Towers, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. This was the first major building (or set of buildings) I checked out and couldn't believe how clear the image was, right down to the shadows the towers cast over the downtown. A number of action movies have featured these towers, but somehow, staring at them from space has been more exciting to me.

Below: The Empire State Building, New York City, United States. I have a history with this building, and one that precluded my seeing very much of it. But the 86th floor is plainly visible in the Google Map (and doesn't necessitate my crossing paths with gunmen), as are people walking on the street below. That I can count the number of people crossing the street in front of the building from an image taken from space is boggling (and here, blog-gling). Especially when you consider this is what is publicly available. The NSA, my friends, can not doubt do this at a much closer level in real-time. Damn.

Below: We're just shy of the fifth anniversary of events at the World Trade Center and Pentagon on 9/11 that silenced a corner of our hearts forever. I have watched the planes fly into the towers over and over. I've watched countless documentaries about it. I've listened to the tapes. And it all still doesn't compute. When I saw the image below on Google Maps, I couldn't believe just how vast the devastation was. That's a pretty large chunk of Manhattan right there. Gone. Forever. And there were people all around that morning. Many people. Families. Fathers and mothers; brothers and sisters. Uncles and aunts; cousins and friends. A city scarred, but resolute.

I love the fusion of digital technology. From music to photography, I cannot believe how much the digital world continues to change. And shrink. There was a time, not too long ago, when people would never see another part of their country. Then came trains. And cars. But they still couldn't see other countries. Then came commercial aviation. Now, a couple of quick keystrokes and I can pull up a pretty good geographical layout of nearly anywhere in the world. And I almost feel dirty. But not quite. I think I'll just stick with amazed, waiting to see what innovations the future holds.