If you use Google Talk (or Jabber) and are social by nature, Talk Maps lets you advertise your status and location on Google Maps. it’s based on a clever hack: You add a bot to your friends list, so that it knows when you are available, and you also enter your coordinates on a special form once. Bingo, yet another way to meet new people from all over the world.

The reason it’s mentioned here, of course, is that Talk Maps now also boasts Google Earth integration. It’s a smart use of technology, but my inner misantrope wishes this could be restricted to just my friends. Perhaps have Google Earth fly to wherever a friend comes online, for example, if it’s not busy. Such integration between Google Talk and Earth is definitely one way in which Google Pack could be made to look more like a pack and less like a collection.