Google Conquers the Universe

In a lot of interesting ways, one of which may have gotten a little overlooked in the wake of the new Google Sky layer for the Google Earth application. ...And yes, it's cool that you can turn the sky inside out and note where (warning, this is a Google Earth overlay file) the stars are blocked by a strange oblong shape, and (this one too) the spot where there appears to be a familiar-looking starship. I also like the (yet another .kmz file) Mars overlay. And the discussion of possible Google space censorship amuses me.

But never mind those for the moment. How about Google Maps Book Search?

The official blog posting about it is here. And here's a review.

Turn it on and thousands of book icons suddenly populate the globe. These icons connect place names to their mention in books indexed by Google, providing yet another way to navigate information geospatially.

Apparently it has its doesn't-works as well as its does-works. Well, it's new: the bugs'll get worked out. (Or drive us all insane. We shall see.)

Meanwhile, must figure out how to get those guys to include the Young Wizards placemark overlay... :)