Illinois's own Peoria is vying for Google to choose it as an experimental community for experimental, ultrahigh speed Internet networks. While it is not changing its name to Google, as Topeka, Kansas, is, it has designed a Google plays in Peoria Web site.
For a bit of history to non-Illinoisans:
quote:
Peoria is not a boring and forgettable name, he explained. It's synonymous coast to coast with common-sense, middle-American sensibility. The question of whether something will "play in Peoria" dates back to the vaudeville era and, depending on how you hear it, refers either to the flinty discernment of heartland residents or to their provincial tastes.
