Bevan Rudge JavaScript and web technologist

After yesterday's siting and all the related discussion, the firkin Google car was parked right outside our house today! Well not right outside, but on the other side of the park next to our house -- less than 100 metres away. Celeste called me with the news and I ran out of the house with the camera, socks, no keys, no shoes, front door wide open. A bloke was sitting at a picnic table in the park. He looked like he might be the driver on his lunch break:
"Excuse me. Are you the driver of the google car?". But no, he was a fellow geek waiting to see if the driver came back to the car. I chatted to him briefly until the driver did return to the car;

"Excuse me. Are you the driver of the google car?"
"Yep"
"Gidday I'm Bevan"
"Hi I'm Michael"
[handshake]
"Do you mind if I take some photos...."
[Snap Snap Snap]

UPDATE: More recently google is using different hardware atop the pole in San Francisco. See http://sfcitizen.com/blog/2008/06/16/the-united-states-park-police-vs-the-google-maps-car-san-francsicos-presidio/

He is contracting to Google (not employed) and is just a driver -- he doesn't know about the details of the technology of it (not the street view software nor the devices in his car), but knows it's for Google Map's Street View. There is a different driver in Dunedin with the same car model, and another one in Wellington CBD today. There is probably another two or three in Auckland and Hamilton. Michael picked up his google car (with all the technology already attached) in Auckland before Christmas and drove it down for the job.