"Smile, you're on Candid Camera!"

 

Google has added another feature to their Maps:  street views of US cities. 

 

So far, there are only a few available (NYC, Miami, Denver, San Francisco and a couple others).  Here's what they did: Google put cameras on vans and drove all over these cities, taking pictures as they went, so when you use Street View, you're seeing a "snapshot" of that particular street on a particular day. 

 

In each picture, you can use your mouse to "look around" in a full circle. If you see something interesting, you can click and zoom in.  In each street view picture, there are arrows pointing up and down the street; by clicking on one of the arrows, you can "move" along the street by advancing to the next picture that was taken on that street.

 

I've tried out the street view on NYC and San Francisco, and the latter has much better resolution. The resolution is so good, that other users have caught people in embarrassing situations. There's a woman exposing her thong as she bends over in her car. There's a man on a street bench picking his nose. There's a guy pissing on a street sign.

 

You can view them at: http://mashable.com/2007/06/03/street-view-maps-these-panties-have-been-removed-due-to-a-privacy-violation/   and at   http://consumerist.com/consumer/privacy/google-streets-view-project-manager-speaks-about-privacy-concerns-266482.php

 

 

Now we need to find Alan Funt.