The Friday Fillip

Coming to you today from lovely downtown Halifax… Which means I’m too distracted by the local charms to get into an extended fillip today, which might be a blessing for some, I guess. At any rate, I’ll simply point you to Google Street View, a new feature imposed on Google Maps (hat tip to beSpacific) where you’ll find a video featuring a Google engineer dressed up in a body suit and required to act out a hokey tutorial. Only available in the few spots in the U.S. where you see the camera icon on the accompanying graphic, Street View is a set of panoramic pictures of the location allowing you to negotiate various “street-level” views. When it becomes widespread, it will be a real boon to tourists or anyone needing precise directions, I’d say. Because although it’s helpful to see an overview à la Google Maps, the built world has in fact been designed to be seen from the side, so to speak.