I wanted to look at something experimental, so I went to Google labs and checked out the Image Swirl. It very much reminds me of Etsy's connections function, except it has that nice classification thing on top. The first search I tried was a suggested one, "Eiffel Tower." The images all kind of looked alike and the swirls led to dead ends sometimes. Then, the thingy at the top reminded me of bio classifications, so I tried "fish" and got to see a whole bunch of different kinds, and have them listed under the classification thing. I think this tool does have uses besides fun, mainly in scientific areas. Students who are assigned certain papers, like writing about a certain mammal species or amphibians can browse for their topic. I can also see it helpful to gardeners/bird-watcher/ nature aficionado types. If someone took a picture of a bird and wanted to find out what kind, or saw a certain herb growing, they could compare pictures quickly and easily. Some problems are the same as with any Google search, questionable accuracy of the website/labels and irrelevant results popping up.
Then I looked around at Google Maps a bunch, even though I've used it before. I think the street view is really cool and very interesting in terms of virtual tourism. I've used it to show my friends where I lived in Amsterdam and take them on a tour down my street, the prinsengracht. I think it has good implications for researching a move or hotel, too. You can see the shape and the neighborhood, kind of check out safety via Google Maps. Another cool Google tool.
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