Newsweek's Steven "Hackers" Levy has written a great column this week on the rising prominence of Google in both meatspace and cyberspace:
In the singles world, for instance, "Google dating"–running prospective beaus through the search engine–is now standard practice. If the facts about a suitor stack up, then you can not only go on the date with confidence, but you know what to talk about. "If I find out he's a runner, for instance, that's something I know we have in common, and I'll say that I'm a runner, too," says Krissy Goetz, a 24-year-old interactive designer in New York City. The first thing a Google virgin attempts is the often humbling experience of typing one's own name into the query line. The next search is inevitable–a Google dragnet to determine the fate of old flames. A Nobel Prize awaits the theorist who determines a formula that calculates the number of minutes one can use Google before excavating the wreckage of sunken relationships. "It's comforting to know what they've been up to," says Gavin MacDonald, 29, who's checked up on four of his former sweethearts.
(via Megnut)
