Back in the day, computer programs (like Excel '97) would have what were called "easter eggs": random little stuff hidden within the app, put there by bored and mischievous programmers. As it turns out, there's one of those clever individuals at Google.
In the latest version of Google Earth, if you press Ctrl+Alt+A a simple flight simulator comes up!
Once you use it once, it's available in the toolbar, also. I normally don't care one way or another about flight sims, but seeing the Cascades in the distance as I looked down upon the -real- Seattle felt different from the approximations in games like MS Flight Simulator. I can't wait to get to my force-feedback joystick (with my stuff in storage on Oahu), since joysticks are supported. There are two planes to choose from, and if the feature becomes popular, hopefully more will be added. When Google can survive (via advertisers) and offer fun & useful stuff like this for free, it makes me wonder if other companies will follow this trend of treating users with goodwill & respect.
