I confess I'm a bit of a Google fanboy. I'm the last one to get paranoid about privacy concerns even as the GOOG becomes ever-more pervasive.

But then I read The Onion article Google Responds to Privacy Concerns with Unsettlingly Specific Apology, a brilliant piece of satire that shines a light on the fears some people have. Do we have good reason to feel unsettled?

Here's a summary of the things Google "knows" about you if you use their services. I use quotes because it really means Google stores or has access to this information.

Google "Knows"
- What you're searching for (Google.com).
- What your search history is (Chrome, Google Toolbar).
- Where you live (Google Maps).
- What your house and neighborhood look like (Google Maps Street View).
- Where you are now (Google Maps Mobile).
- What local businesses/places you might visit (Google Local).
- Who and about what you email (Gmail).
- Who and about what you chat (Gchat).
- What your phone usage is (Droid and Google Voice).
- What you're thinking (Google Buzz).
- What your plans are (Google Calendar).
- What you buy plus credit card info (Google Checkout).
- What you're selling (Google Adwords).
- What's in your personal documents (Google Docs).
- What photos you view and post (Picasa).
- What videos you view and post (YouTube).
- What your interests are (Blogger).
- What's on your hard drive (Google Desktop).
- What your medical history is (Google Health)

In reality, of course, Google is not tracking your every move. I believe it when they say they only use the data they collect to improve and personalize search results and to serve relevant ads. It's not in their business interests to be viewed as big brother.

For me, it's more a sense of awe than worry. I'm in awe of how all-encompassing Google has become in a relatively short time. And I'm in awe of the huge responsibility they have to keep our personal data private and stored safely in the cloud.

Still, maybe it's all too much and you want to opt out of Google. The Onion shows how Google can help you with that too:

NPR did a great story on the 20th anniversary of this photo, taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft in 1990. It almost didn't happen because there was fear of frying the cameras when they pointed back at the sun.

Carl Sagan urged NASA not let the opportunity pass, and they did not disappoint. Here's Sagan's take on the photo:

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every 'superstar,' every 'supreme leader,' every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there — on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

Just a little perspective late on a Friday afternoon.

Read the full article

I like the concept of the of the iPad for travel -- particularly international travel. Light, compact, and almost every feature you'd need on the go. But it's missing something very important for the savvy, long-term traveler. 

During my year in South America, I lugged around a large, heavy Dell Inpiron laptop. As much as I hated the size and weight burden, it served my purposes for movies, photos, music, web, and email. Perhaps most importantly, I often used this beast of a laptop to access Skype.

I can't tell you how useful Skype was for keeping in touch with friends and family. Or when my wallet was stolen and I had to cancel credit cards and get money wired to me. With Skype I could take care of the problem at a minimal cost, and do so privately rather than in an internet cafe or public phone.

The iPad looks like a sexy travel toy, but the lack of a built-in webcam and microphone takes it out of the running as a serious travel computer. I'd like to see someone build a rugged, compact and full-featured device aimed at that niche.

Photo Credit

Cool ideas. Maybe someday soon PayPal will be the debit card killer.