Engadget spin-off blog Switched posts about a new browser-based version of Google Earth. This means no more leaving the browser to open a seperate desktop application, a step that has more than once prevented me from doing more spur-of-the-moment sightseeing. This also means that Google Earth can be embedded on web pages now. This certainly opens up new opportunities for interactive experiences.

The browser version isn't as full-featured as the desktop application, but it shouldn't be long before the feature-sets even out. So far, the Google Earth plug-in supports Firefox 2.x, IE6 and IE7 on Windows (sorry, Mac folks). Download it here. Of course, you may need to ask IT to install it on your work machine.