Google Street View

While searching for the approximate location for my Friday night outing, I accidentally, zoomed into Google Maps Street View. I have been hearing about this in the news, but assumed is was not much different than Google Earth satellite photos. However, seeing is believing [read: amazing]. Of course, license plates and faces are blurred, but the resolution is fine enough that I can look inside peoples cars.

This image of a man staring at the photographing machine, reminds me of the video screens in the distopian novel 1984. That may not be a surprising statement. Certainly, that is not an original statement. However, I do not say it lightly. Reading that book made me realize that Orwell was indeed writing about present times. We are already within the confines of culture where 'private information' is zilch.

These are the times, but should I get used to it, and roll with the punches. Not worrying as much about my privacy, or alternatively, worrying more about my privacy, but accepting I will always have to be diligent about maintaining or controlling my privacy.

My friend Ryan seems to have opted out of information prying technology for the most part. He owns no cell phone, no home phone, and no internet. The only way to contact him is by mail, if you new his address (which isn't listed in the PHONE book). When I asked him how I should get a hold of him, he said he checks his email on Sundays when he visits his parents, but that for the winter, he'll check less often. I know his approximate geographical location, but to maintain a certain point of mystery, I did not ask him his address. Perhaps, I'll see if he was walking the streets the day they took the Google Street View pics.

Looking at the pic above makes me wonder if they hired an army of geography student interns to blur ppls faces and license plates, or if some computer programme was created to detect face and plate structures and blur them automatically. Hmmm.

Today's Lesson: I should start closing the blinds when walking the house nude.