At last, what all stressed out IT managers have been waiting for; yet another way for their staff to fart about at work, lower productivity and eat up bandwidth. Yes, Google has launched a new add-on to its highly useful Google Earth offering – a flight simulator. OK, Sneak understands that the dot com giant needs to grow and is looking for new ways to expand its business, but virtual flying?

After the controversy surrounding its limp acquiescence to anti-democratic Chinese wishes, it’s nice to see Google is being its usual sensitive self. The idea that anyone could potentially download the software, log-on and practice flying aircraft into tall, well-known buildings, apparently doesn’t bother it at all. Although, having tried to master the controls on this sim, Sneak reckons Google may have a point – it’s probably easier to fly a plane than successfully operate the controls on this game.

26 Sep 2007