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Google Ride Finder Announced

nthitz writes "Need a ride? Now Google has included the ability to lookup where taxis are in real time! The new service is called Google Ride Finder. Using a combination of Google Maps and Google Local you can see where certain taxis are at the moment. Currently there are only 11 major cities that are supported, and there are still only a few cab companies that are involved. The service is pretty cool, but if they don't add more cities/companies, who knows how well it will do. For more info check out Google's Blog."

14 of 349 comments (clear)

  1. Yes but, can it find my keys? by rhennigan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Looks like they are getting closer and closer to being able to locate my keys in my house for me. Awesome.

    1. Re:Yes but, can it find my keys? by coastal984 · · Score: 5, Funny
      To hell with that, I want to google "Where's the remote?!?"

      *click 'I'm feeling Lucky'*

      "Living Room Sofa - left cushion, beside the molding popcorn, 2 pennies and a dime.... Sponsored links: Oreck Vacuums, Movie Time Popcorn, Discount Disinfectant Spray"

  2. Re:one-handed fp by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Dang. You are good, sir.

    I applaud you.

    *Polite golf clap*

  3. Do they run too much? by delymyth · · Score: 4, Funny

    Sometimes I think Google is running too much and too fast.
    Google Maps and Google Local (thus Google Ride Finder too) are available only for US citizens.
    Services are fine, are good, are nice, and I'd like to see something similar for my area too (I live in Italy).
    My not-so-secret dream is that one day they'll extend all those great services to the rest of the world, maybe before launching tons of other services I would only look at saying "it would be nice to be able to use it..."

    Oh, well, I feel like I live in the third world :(

    --
    -- Personal Blog: http://www.delymyth.net/ (italian)
    1. Re:Do they run too much? by jericho4.0 · · Score: 3, Funny
      There's nothing stopping you from calling one of the cab companies on Google from Canada. They might want a credit card number before they send a driver, though.

      --
      "A language that doesn't affect the way you think about programming, is not worth knowing" - Alan Perlis
  4. Re:Google Gmail April Fools: Infinity and Beyond S by HyperChicken · · Score: 2, Funny

    Quick! Try and use above 1GB of storage! If you can't, we can sue them for false advertisement!!! We might have to go to France to do it, though.

    --
    Free of Flash! Free of Flash!
  5. Re:April 1st!!! by OverlordQ · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'm coming back tomorrow when all the bogus crap is over.

    Ahahah, you must be new here, you'll be waiting alot longer then a day. :)

    --
    Your hair look like poop, Bob! - Wanker.
  6. Lame Mods by 2short · · Score: 2, Funny

    Informative? Just telling people what day it is counts as informative? Seems like a pretty low standard.

    Oh, wait, I see, it's informative because he's pointing out that it's an April Fools joke. But really, is saying "IT'S A JOKE!!!" really all that informative?

    Particularly considering that a small amount of reflection will reveal that it is not particularly funny; and a small amount of research will reveal it is an actual functioning service. Which is to say, it is not, in actual fact, a joke.

  7. Google Gulp Anyone? by porp · · Score: 5, Funny


    Screw the Taxi tracker. I'm looking forward to a Google Gulp, found here. My favorite bit:

    From forest to freezer: A Google Gulp history

    It is estimated that nearly half of Planet Earth's plant and animal species live in tropical rain forests, the vast majority of them undiscovered by humans and therefore not yet subjected to commercial exploitation. For Google, this cornucopia of undigitized data represented an irresistible acquisition target. So, for the past two years, as his 20% project, VP of operations Urs Hoelzle has spent one day a week collecting flora samples in several Bolivian sub-equatorial rain forests. For the most part, the compounds he returned with were nothing special - the usual grab-bag of future steroids, muscle relaxants, skin care appliqués and long-shot cancer drugs.


    I bet Google Gulps are good with vodka. Shit, anything is good with vodka.

    porp

  8. underground ? by fizze · · Score: 2, Funny

    am I the only one that thought about the freelance mode in NFS:U2 ?

    In related news:
    google also announced a new service, called "google date finder", to ease chances for _challenged_ people (read: geeks). In conjunction with google maps, google local, google ride finder and datefinder.com, the service is expected to be a huge breakthu success....

    --
    Powerful is he who overpowers his temptations.
  9. Cool, but what we need now is: by torpor · · Score: 2, Funny

    GoogleChick - finds hot chicks in your local neighborhood
    GooglePizza - finds hot pizza in your local neighborhood
    GoogleCrack - finds hot crack in your local neighborhood

    Then, the transformation from "Google, Friend of the World" to "Google, Matrix Overlord Ruler of the Human Slaves" will be complete...

    --
    ; -- the corruption of government starts with its secrets. a truly free people keep no secrets. --
  10. Re:April 1st!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    Nono, April 2nd is when we get the dupes of the April 1st stories.

    And April 3rd is when we get ... ah, you're way ahead of me.

  11. Re:Still NO Distance Scale on Google Maps... by IronChef · · Score: 4, Funny

    Holy fuck, you emailed a big company--numerous times--and they did not implement your feature request?

    I gotta go lie down, my head is spinning.

  12. Re:Google Gulp too! by Red+Pointy+Tail · · Score: 2, Funny

    With a not so subtle dig at M$:

    11. When will you take Google Gulp out of beta?

    Man, if you pressure us, you just drive us away. We'll commit when we're ready, okay? Besides, what's so great about taking things out of beta? It ruins all the romance, the challenge, the possibilities, the right to explore. Carpe diem, ya know? Maybe we're jaded, but we've seen all these other companies leap headlong into 1.0, thinking their product is exactly what they've been dreaming of all their lives, that everything is perfect and hunky-dory - and the next thing you know some vanilla copycat release from Redmond is kicking their butt, the Board is holding emergency meetings and the CEO is on CNBC blathering sweatily about "a new direction" and "getting back to basics." No thanks, man. We like our freedom.