May 31, 2010

I had a colleague who worked in Manhattan and lived in Westchester County. Rather than taking public transportation he drove to work every single day. He payed the tolls and the not inexpensive Manhattan parking.

I asked him several times why he never purchased E-Z Pass. With that pass at least the tolls provide some discount plus one does not have to wait in the cash lanes where the lines are always long.

His response was that he didn't want Big Brother to know where he was traveling to. I told him I didn't think Big Brother was much interested in his travelings. His wife might but not Big Brother.

This is typical of the average American's paranoia about invasion of privacy.

Security cameras on the streets, E-Z Pass or any other detection device is accused to be protection of privacy.

Well, I have a huge protection of privacy culprit that nobody seem to complain about.

Google Earth.

I think Google Earth (GE) is a fantastic virtual globe, map and geographic information program. It covers practically the entire globe.

In some areas it is so accurate that one can spot the potholes front of somebody's house.

A friend of mine lives in Australia. I have never been there but I saw the house through GE and I also saw pictures taken from his street at 360˚. It was like if I were there. And this is available at almost everywhere on the Earth.

So how come nobody ever complains about invasion of privacy when GE shows everybody's property, the backyard, the pool, all roads leading to one's place and everything else people are interested about.

I have no answer why the paranoids don't complain. Maybe because Google wouldn't care if people do complain. They would still publish their sites.

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Today is Memorial Day, May 31, 2010. To date I wrote 229 blogs. That's a lot of Blog. I never realized I had so much in me. I know it is not the ginkgo biloba because I was not taking it at the beginning. I guess I just have it.

The summer is starting and I am going to take time off to concentrate on some important things like going to the beach a lot.

So until I get a real hard kick in the behind from a Muse this is my last entry until the end of summer 2010.

I wish everybody a good and healthy Summer. And remember the grass is always greener on the other side.