Google Keeps it Street

We’re all about civil liberties here at Boston Daily, but we’re also big fans of technology. Therefore we’re pretty conflicted about today’s release of Google’s Street View. An addition to Google’s wildly popular Google Maps, Street View allows nosy people, like us, to virtually wander the streets of our fair city and see people captured for posterity by the company’s roving cameras. We decided to put aside our concerns for the morning and see who we could find.

In cities where the service has already been rolled out, there’s been an uproar over people being easily recognized while patronizing incriminating places like adult bookstores. So we decided to see if anybody we knew was coming out of Centerfolds. Sadly, the strip club seems pretty quiet.

Hmm. No controversy there.

Maybe in Harvard Square? Nope. Just some friendly people waving to the camera. Where are the middle fingers we expected to see greeting a Volkswagon Bug with some strange camera attached to the roof?

Here’s a grown woman taking a Duck Tour. Might be embarrassing if she’s quacking, but we can’t tell. But kudos for matching your shirt to the color of the vehicle, lady.

The pictures seem to be taken in spring or summer, since many of the people walking by are dressed in shorts and t-shirts. A street view of Fenway Park reveals people milling around at the bars and restaurants, but absolutely no scalpers in Kenmore Square.

Try as we might, we can’t seem to violate anyone’s civil liberties after our perfunctory stroll through the city. We tried to zoom in on the license plates of people who seemed to be driving like idiots, but could only determine the state the car came from. We also attempted to look in our neighbors’ windows, but could only see air conditioners hanging out.

But check out what’s happening outside Boston Daily HQ: It’s a Whitey Bulger look-alike. Hey, it’s just as credible as anything the FBI has come up with lately. Hide your Irish grandpas, everyone!