Globe Genie aka StreetViewRoulette lets you teleport around the world

From Brenna Ehrlich's September 16, 2010 Mashable post:

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Chatroulette might be all about depicting a random array of topography (if you know what I mean), but a new hack called Globe Genie gives you a peek at a whole new kind of peak: random views from around the world, via Google Street View.

Globe Genie was developed by MIT grad student Joe McMichael, who describes the inner workings thusly to the Guardian: “Globe Genie generates random latitude and longitude coordinates within several pre-specified rectangles around regions that have Street View imagery. It then queries Google’s servers to determine whether the point is valid. If not, it repeats this process until it finds a valid location.”

You can choose from an array of continents (sans South America and Antarctica) or merely shuffle through all landscapes. The hack is addictive and highly entertaining, especially if you’re longing for a much-needed vacation.

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Fair warning: there goes the day.