Nifty: carpets made using Google Earth and Google Maps images.

Speaking of Google Earth, the ocean terrain in Google Earth has received a major update. “Through several rounds of upgrades, Google Earth now has 15 percent of the seafloor image derived from shipboard soundings at 1-kilometer resolution. Previous versions only derived about 10 percent of their data from ship soundings and the rest from depths predicted by Sandwell and NOAA researcher Walter Smith using satellite gravity measurement.”

Speaking of maps, a new mapping initiative from the NYPL.

Wow, a 1917 film (19 minutes long!) covering a construction project in San Francisco is now online.

Coming soon — an online archive of letters from the 1860s.

From the New York Times: a new database of hazardous building materials. Though from the article it seems like we’ll be down to building with mud and sticks….

A tool for reading Google Books offline: GooReader.

Ooo! What a lovely archive of Japanese woodblock prints!

Resource: seven alternatives to Google Analytics.

This should be fun: “The Library of Congress and France’s national audio-visual archive announced plans Wednesday to exchange up to 500 hours of digitized film and TV shows that reflect how the United States and France have portrayed each other in media.” Will this include Deux-Deux from The Inspector?

A new online database of herbs is coming from the University of Lethbridge. “Photos of 21,000 plant specimens are being digitized and will be available online, complete with scientific name, location, collection time, phenology and habitat.”

Sierra Leone has launched a new online mining database. “The purpose of the system is to have information on all revenue data for the country’s extractive industry – payments made for licenses, royalties, and contributions to local chiefdoms – collected, recorded and published for public accessibility.”

A new archive for Asian recipes. Domo Kun chocolate-covered marshmallows for the win. Good afternoon, Internet…