Launched last week, Monopoly City Streets uses the Google Maps platform to let users “buy” any street in the world.

The goal of the game of chance, like the real-world version, is to earn money on real estate and become the richest property magnate.

New players are given three million Monopoly dollars to build their virtual empire with every street in the world, in theory, available for purchase.

Beginning June 15, 2009, Google is relaxing its policy on use of trademarks in ad copy text.

In the past, Google has restricted the use of brand names in ad text and was willing to take action to prevent it which allowed you to authorize specific resellers to use your brand while restricting the remainder of the market.

Now Google will allow previously disapproved ads to run on Google.com and the content network in the USA, without the need for approval by the trademark owner.

Space Adventures, a Virginia company that arranges passage for wealthy explorers to ride on Russian Soyuz rockets to the International Space Station, They are now planning to buy a Soyuz flight all its own in 2011, with the option of buying more.

One of the people onboard the 2011 flight will be Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google. He made a $5 million investment in the company that will serve as a deposit on a future flight.

Space Adventures, the only company that sends tourists to space, has sent five of them so far. But its continued ability to provide these orbital experiences has been a subject of speculation recently.