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Filed under: Utilities, Web services, Google

Google Street View gets improved navigation controls


Google Street View is an amazing tool, and it's fun to use it to take virtual walks around the world's cities, but it's not exactly known for its navigation interface. Fortunately, Google has introduced an entirely revised "pancake" navigation system that relies more on dragging and less on dozens of frustrating clicks just to walk down a street. Now, if you can see where you want to go, you can place the pancake there and jump straight away -- no arrow keys necessary!

Zooming behavior is improved, too. Any time you see magnifying glass inside the pancake, you can click to zoom in on that spot. This even works with individual buildings, allowing you to zoom in for more details than before. Google claims that the new navigation gives Street View's flat images a more 3D feel, and I'm inclined to agree.

Featured Time Waster

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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