You have Googled your sister’s boyfriend to discover his true identity, American Idol to find audition locations and yes, most have even Googled their own name.

But have you ever Googled Earth?

In June 2005, Google released Google Earth as a geographical database, in addition to its pre-existing map feature. The program, at http://earth.google.com, is now available for both Mac and PC.

Users can view high-resolution satellite images from across the planet and click on areas to find commercial information. In a single click of the mouse, you can find running trails, construction sites and favorite ethnic restaurants. By typing in an address, you can view friends’ homes in enough detail to see the shadow of a dog in the yard.

Zip codes, crime statistics and apartment pricings are also available by location.

“I love the place-marking function,”said Thor Rudebeck, a Communication freshman who uses the program four or five hours a week. “It feeds my inner geek. I love the fact that I can stick a little pushpin into, for example, the Golden Gate Bridge. Then I can double click and it will smoothly fly me into the Golden Gate Bridge.”

Consumers can download the program free of charge. They also can upgrade with a minimum $20 annual fee for faster performance and more detailed prints, features often used for business presentations.

“It is humanizing technology, making it engaging and exciting,” said Don Norman, a Northwestern computer science professor who studies the relationship between technology and people. “It is also empowering, again because these tools are available to anybody.”

Bethany Summersgill, Music and Weinberg freshman, used Google Earth to find a motel while camping and said friends look up each other’s homes after finding their addresses.

“You can stalk people on Facebook and other similar sites, so Google Earth isn’t too much different,” Summersgill said.

Google Earth users share their observations, such as favorite locations or airplanes caught in images, through sightseeing groups and blogs linked to the Google Earth site.

Norman is part of a Museum of American Heritage project charting the Lewis and Clark expedition with Google Earth. Through the project, based in Palo Alto, Calif., researchers compare diary entries from the expedition with satellite images.

But some users said the technology that powers Google Earth has its drawbacks.

“I like my privacy,” said Weinberg junior Carla Nasr, who has viewed her home once through Google Earth. “I’m a private person. For something like this to be available to the public at large is a little scary.”

Norman said the positive potential of programs like Google Earth balance the risks. For example, Norman said Google Earth is making technology available to the public to view satellite images from any part of the world. Before, consumers had to buy images from companies.

“All technology can be used for good and evil,” Norman said. “Can it help terrorists? Yes. Do the benefits overweigh that? I think so.”

Though Rudebeck used Google Earth to find a city in a French novel he read for class, he would still like to see the place firsthand.

“You’re not breathing the air and listening to the language and eating the food,” Rudebeck said. “Theoretically you could be, but that would be unbearably geeky.”

Sarah Tompkins can be reached at [email protected].