Take The Fi Out Of Sci and Join Gianaris' World
While everyone else is oohing and ahhhing over Google Earth, state Assemb. Michael Gianaris of Astoria is worried it poses a [threat to national security]. At a news conference yesterday, Gianaris said the satellite mapping system can be used by terrorists to target vital infrastructure, noting the four men accused in the recently-foiled JFK plot who allegedly used Google Earth to obtain airport maps and locations of the fuel tanks. Gianaris sent CEO Eric Schmidt a letter attempting to persuade Google to alter some of its images nearly two years ago; the response he received explained that the information utilized by the software is all commercially available with much of it coming from the government. Oh, so itll be Gianaris and his ilks fault if the software is used for good rather than evil. For his part, let's just say [Mayor Bloomberg](http://www.nysun.com/article/56287)'s back must hurt from straddling both sides of the argument. Undeterred, Gianaris is calling on the software behemoth to blur maps that detail sensitive areas, like airports, chemical storage plants and military bases. Click [here](http://www.ny1.com/ny1/content/index.jsp?stid=1&aid=70585) to see what your fellow New Yorkers have to say on the issue, including one woman who finds this solution ridiculous because blurred portions will only alert potential terrorists exactly where they should plan to attack. Bet you never thought of that. In related news, Google's [privacy practices](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070611/ap_on_hi_te/google_privacy) were recently rated the worst among the Internet's top destinations when it comes to its users personal information. On the bright side, should a terrorist use this software, at least he'll likely be caught.