If Google ruled the world--oh wait, it does

It dawned on me recently that Google does, in fact, rule the world. For some reason, that point has been made increasingly clear to me in the past week or so. It started with an article in Time magazine about how people can now view works in the Prado (pretty famous art museum in Madrid) using Google Earth. Apparently the fancy shmancy Google technology was able to capture down to the 14 Gillionth mexapixel or something so if you want to view the brush strokes for Las Meninas, it is now possible. Thank you Google.

Sidenote, I found this mildly funny considering I visited the Prado about a year ago with my cousin Arielle and friend Beth and while we were goofing around a photo of one of us may have been taken, which may have almost resulted in us being escorted out of the museum...

So then I found out something way cooler- Google has taken over the oceans. They are giving ordinary people the chance to explore the depths of the sea and check out tourist information for that next windsurfing trip (or sailing or kayaking) we might want to take. Oh, and the ability to view old shipwrecks at the bottom of the ocean! This could occupy me for hours. Now, due to my fear of my 7-year-old computer exploding, I have decided not to download Google Earth. I will one day, but you can today! Do it. And let me know what the vampire squid really looks like.

Now, that would not really be enough to convince me that Google has taken over the world. I then found out that Google has its own police force. OK, that's not quite true- but they are helping the police catch people who decide to grow fields of pot! Once again, Google Earth to the rescue, helping to make sure the law of the land (in this case Switzerland) doesn't go up in a cloud of smoke.

I found out today that the publishing company I work for has decided to put our entire library of books on Google Books. Apparently us giving away our content (basically, although I guess you cannot print off of Google Books) helps with search engine optimization purposes. So now, to be a successful company, you have to give your product away via Google! Some of my favorite magazines, that I currently buy, are also on Google Books (note to self...)

I recently discovered that Google Reader blows my mind by aggregating all of the stuff I read on a daily basis in a nice little window for me. It basically thinks for me. So now we don't need brains either.

Last but not least, this blog posting wouldn't be possible without the magic of Google. What's crazy is that I'm leaving probably hundreds of other purposes that Google serves on a daily basis.

So, in summary, Google rules the world- or at least my life. That kind of creeps me out, and kind of makes me feel safe at the same time. Oy gevalt.