[URL="http://maps.google.co.uk/maps"]Google Maps Street View[/URL] has just gone live here in the UK. Disappointingly, Hemel Hempstead doesn't yet seem to have been covered by Google's roving cameras, so you can't, yet, see my house or the location where my office is! I'm actually wondering if that is good or bad :)

But the whole concept and the technology used to stitch millions of images to illustrate 360 degree views of the nation's thoroughfares is certainly mind-blowing. Talk about applied digital imaging!

I see that Google has felt obliged to blur people's faces and car licence plates. I'm interested to know what folks here thing of this policy? We don't ask people we bump into in the street to forget that we were there, so I'm wondering why Google should erase us from their archive?

You can also request that Google filter out your own home. Apparently, some are concerned that their homes are more vulnerable to burglary when shown on Google Maps Street View.

Overall, I'm personally very impressed by what Google has achieved - what about you? :)