A part of me is very afraid of all the information that Google is collecting.  The scariest part is that unlike people, who reach a certain capacity point and then begin to purge (“Whoops, closet’s full– what can I get rid of..?”), Google is just looking to find ways to store MORE information.  They never throw anything out.  What are you going to do with all of that in the long run, y’know?

That being said, I am a frequent user of serveral of their software products.  By default, I use both their search engine and their map software.  An addition to the latter that is just AWESOME in my book is the “public transit” map option that just recently debuted for Milwaukee.

I pay about 30 bucks a month for an UNLIMITED bus pass through the university.  It’s great, because I don’t need to pay for parking at work or worry about finding a space, and I also save the gas money and wear-and-tear on the car.  However, I really don’t use the bus other that for getting to work (and occasionally to Michelle’s), in large part because figuring out how to get from point A to point B on a particular schedule is sort of pain.

No longer a problem with the public-transit-google-mapping.  Tell it where I want to start from, where I need to go, and what time I need to get there, and it gives me all the info I need.  VERY cool and FANTASTICALLY convenient.  I just might start driving even less…

Try it out– here’s just an example of a route I have to take to go see an  apartment tomorrow morning (different unit in the same building I mentioned last week).