The power of Google

Today's New York Times featured a column by Thomas L. Friedman on the underreported causes (or, more accurately, contributing factors) of the revolutions we're seeing in the Middle East. Among them he points out not Twitter or Facebook but Google Earth.

That reminded me... Yesterday I saw a presentation by the founder of the website Ushahidi at an advocacy journalism conference at the Newseum. The company uses Google's technology to create maps of countries that people can then post reports to of everything from demonstrations that are happening to instances of domestic violence to where to get the best burger. I had never heard of it before and was pretty enchanted by the idea. Apparently it has had quite an impact already on places like Egypt and Sudan.

It's amazing what uses there are for Google's technologies that have yet to even be thought of.