Snipped from alternet.org.

I am always fascinated by what Google is up to next. Their insatiable appetite for the latest in technology surpasses only their speed at getting it done. Now their latest foray into mapping includes a nifty little thing called Street View. We now have Google at ground floor level recording anything and everything they see on the street, around the street and up the street and this may include you picking your nose (without your permission). What’s next — peeking into bedroom windows? Don’t laugh, it’s happening. So, how does Google do it?

What Google has done is taken images by a camera mounted on a roving van over the past few months. Then they use special software to “knit” the discrete pictures together, creating the illusion that you’re seeing seamless images of streets. This is really pretty cool if you’re scoping out a new place to live or checking out a hotel you want to book.

Here is a portion of the article that gives you a little more detail on what this is all about.

When you first use Street View, it feels like Google has turned the real world into a video game. I recently took a “walk” all around a San Francisco neighborhood where I might like to live. By clicking the arrow, I moved down Guerrero Street, “looking” to my right and left at the houses and local businesses to figure out how many blocks my potential residence would be from crucial things like cafés and a grocery store. I felt like I was in the virtual world Second Life, except that I couldn’t fly and most of the people on the street weren’t giant centaurs with wings and magic powers.

Still, it was hard to take my eyes off the people on the street. Captured on film without their knowledge or permission, they’ll be online for all to see for at least a couple of years — possibly more. Some naughty bloggers over at Wired.com have already asked people to submit the best “street sightings” they’ve found on Street View. Several pictures of semi-naked people sunbathing or undressing near open windows turned up right away, as did pictures of people pissing against buildings. Searchers also found a picture of somebody being arrested (Google took that one down), as well as a snapshot of two women on San Francisco’s Hyde Street who appear to be exchanging money for drugs. And there are thousands more like these.

If you would like to read the full article click the image below.