A Sneak Peak at the British!

Ever wonder what's going on over there? You know, in Britain. What are the British up to? Where are they going? What are they doing?

Don't you wish you could take a sneak peak at your old home town? Wouldn't it be nice to see the city you grew up in again - without zooming across the Atlantic Ocean?

Well now you have a couple of options. Thanks to the great folks at Google you can download their free software called "Google Earth" and - in a virtual sense - fly to the UK and drive down the streets you know and love. Based mainly on high resolution satellite images, Google Earth uses cunning computer technology to give you a living, 3 dimensional picture of anywhere on Earth. With a flick of the mouse you can drive down The Mall and arrive at the gates of Buckingham Palace in London, or cruise down Sauchiehall Street in Glasgow.

Do you want to know whether your old high school is still standing? Check it out on Google Earth! Would you like to visit the Coronation Street set at Granada TV Studios in Manchester? Type it into Google Earth's search box and fly there!

Better set aside a few hours to play with it though, Google Earth can be highly addictive. Before you know it you'll have visited every place you went to when you were younger and every place you meant to go see but never got around to it.

But wait! There's another choice too. The grand old Auntie Beeb, the BBC, maintains a collection of webcams around England. You can check out live cameras in cities, in rural locations, on beaches, famous landmarks and even British wildlife - all on live cameras connected to the Internet. Visit the BBC's webcam site at: www.bbc.co.uk/england/webcams and prepare for some nostalgia.