Rejoice, freecyclers and freegans: this Google maps mashup is for you! Garbage Scout is sort of a Dodgeball for garbage-lovers. It's motto is "Can you believe someone was throwing this out?" In many cases, we can indeed imagine why someone would throw their crap out, but their loss is indeed your gain. Here's how it works:

From your phone, email a picture of your find to "street@garbagescout.com" In the body of the email type a description @ location. For example: furniture old chairs@123 East Broadway computer monitors look good @ west 79th street & broadway bike wheels and parts @ 345 west 21st.

And wise-guys, please don't send in pictures of dead rats and the like-- this is clearly disallowed by the FAQ: "[the refuse] should not, to your knowledge, be covered with a disgusting substance."