Google Lunar X Prize

"....a robotic race to the moon with a purse of $30 million.

The contest invites private teams from around the world to build a robotic rover capable of roaming the lunar surface for at least 500 meters and then sending video, images and data back to Earth, among other feats. The idea behind the challenge is to urge private industry to develop new robotic and virtual-presence technology to reduce the cost of space exploration."

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Google paying folk to fill their Yellow Pages

Google has launched a program that will pay people to take digital photos of local shops and verify their operating hours and payment options – essentially, creating a digital Yellow Pages to layer on top of Google Maps.

Under the terms of the Google Business Referral program, representatives can earn up to $10 for each business they catalog for Google – $2 for the business's information, and $8 for getting the company to verify that the information is correct by either sending in a postcard or approving it online. More...

Better than Google?

It's called MyLiveSearch and if it works well & quickly, and that is a BIG if, then it could be a great asset to one of the Big 4 search engines.

Developed by Aussie Robert Gabriel, it uses Google as a starting point to find some seed sites, and then follows the links of those sites to find its search results. The big advantage of this is that it can find new sites & information that has not been indexed by Google yet.

I really don't think it would be able to do a good enough job, quick enough - but it would be nice to try it. Supposedly launches in June.

Google Earth includes a Flight Simulator

Like a hidden Easter Egg, open Google Earth and press Ctrl+Alt+A on your PC or Command+Option+A on your Mac and presto, you are taken to Google Flight Simulator. It's pretty basic, but hey, it's free!

Prediction: Google News - The World's Best Newspaper

As of Friday, Google News is now hosting stories from AP, Agence France-Presse, the Press Assn. in Britain and the Canadian Press. The first two were suing Google over the use of their stories, so the natural progression is for all agencies and newspapers to sue Google, therefore forcing Google to pay them for their stories.

Ultimately I can see Google as the host of all news items (fulfiling their mission statement of making all information available and retrievable). And then, they will offer anybody the tools to make their own online newspaper, combining the actual news items with their own editorial comments.