Microsoft’s Virtual Earth: “Now you can have maps that don’t just have satellite views: Microsoft’s Virtual Earth now lets you walk or drive around the streets and see a street-level view”.

Hmm.

You can explore street-side views by ‘driving’ (with your mouse or with the arrow keys on your keyboard) our ‘Sports Car’ or ‘Race Car’ along streets in the map or you can also ‘Walk’ along the street. When the car is on a street that has street-side images, the car headlights turn on and you can view the front, right, and left views through the car windows above. When there are no available views, a ‘no view’ screen is displayed. Simply drag (or ‘drive’ with keystrokes) the car to a different place to continue browsing.”

It’s just dreadful, but young technology always improves. It looks like the bastard son of Google Earth and a bored tourist’s photo album.

After holding out longer than any other major internet company, Google will effectively become another brick in the great firewall of China when it starts filtering out information that it believes the government will not approve of.

Another brick in the great firewall of China. It can’t last.