Google Earth

Wow. All I can say is, maybe I am not as saavy with the internet as I thought I was. This last week, as I have not needed to be in class since last Tues afternoon as a result of the delicious snow, I have come and gone from Google Earth and various other web 2.0 programs at leisure. In all, I must've spent about 10 hours online exploring these and didn't really accomplish much. Maybe I am too overwhelmed by all my new options or just not using them right. I just couldn't seem to accomplish anything I set out to do.
My first experiment which I approached with great anticipation was Remember the Milk, a program that acts as an online planner/reminder. I figured this could be very useful because, when I have important things to get done and they are noted in my planner, it's when the planner has been tucked away in my bookbag for some time while I am off doing other things that I completely miss the reminders. This way, at least when I am online, I can receive the reminders via my instant messenger. IF it could be useful to me, I imagined how I could have students make use of this funky little online organizer to keep track of their work. However, it couldn't less confusing on how to add appointments and such. Again, it's either too complicated or more complicated then needs to be or I am missing something. Any other program I tried to explore just wouldn't well on my computer because of slow connection. If they didn't require endless download/installation processes, the programs were just too thick for my skimpy little connection to carry and eventually got closed out.
These programs probably work and might even be really helpful, especially in a classroom; but there are so many and for the less saavy or those like myself with more inferior technology at hand, they can pretty much be deemed useless and a waste of time.
I loved Google Earth but couldn't make it do what I wanted. It was interesting to see different views of places I go, some places (like Coney Island) even had street views you could click on to see actual photographs of that spot. I attempted to upload some of my own photos through their program but never found out how to make them appear on the maps. There should be better instructions, step by step, to walk newcomers through each aspect.