Wandering around Worldchanging (highly recommended blog on the ideas and technologies that are changing the world for the better, like Wired but more idealistic), I noticed that one of my favorite authors, Bruce Sterling, is blogging. I love the internet. Bruce points out an interesting new acquisition for Google. They're purchasing the company that makes SketchUp, a Computer Aided Design program. This means that Google Earth will soon have 3-D models of things located on it, accessible to anyone. How? Who's making the models? Benevolent magic elves. Think of it, a CAD/GIS convergence that's simple to use and freely available on the web! Revelation! I can't imagine the cool toys that this will produce. Goodbye, gray blocks. If this were around when I was doing the Transportation Matrix for Cville Tomorrow, oh man it would have been cool.