Ah, I run my own proxy checking scheme anyways... I start off with a google.com tab and it generally opens up in the country of the terminal Tor server, e.g, google.de, google.il . Occasionally google.com comes up and I have the option of examining the matter further. But the speed of uploading is a good clue as to whether or not Tor is engaged.

If nothing else, it's a good party trick. A BL friend in a very repressive middle eastern state was delighted to see that when he first turned his new Tor on, he was browsing from the Democritus University of Thrace instead of from his own capital city region.

A side benefit of Tor, I think, is that I can look at this site (on my own laptop) via the wireless at work (on breaks) without the computer administrators knowing I am doing it. All cautionary notes about that appreciated.