CityMaps still retains the names of streets, but instead of satellite pictures or building outlines, it shows you the logos or names of the establishments in the area. Aside from providing easy to spot landmarks, CityMaps also makes it easy to find or discover stores, restaurants and other places. Obviously the other motivation for CityMaps is to coordinate with businesses who want their buildings to be more visible.

CityMaps currently only has maps of New York, Austin and San Francisco, but obviously they’re going to cover more and more cities if they progress. It also has a free iOS app that you can try out. Here’s a free thousand dollar idea: HipsterCityMaps – maps that only point out the obscure stuff. Also bike routes.

[CityMaps via Fast Co. Design]

I might have to make the image below my new desktop wallpaper on my 27-inch iMac. Is it just me, or was Nyan Cat actually inspired by these t-shirts?

The guys over at MacMothership dug up these awesome retro images of the catalog, filled with wondrous rainbow-colored Apple swag from the 80s.

While the t-shirts and coffee mugs are pretty great, I really wish I knew where I could find the Apple logo latch-hook rug, or the already-assembled wall-hanging version for my office.

Or how about a nifty smoked plastic caddy for all your Elephant and Verbatim 5-1/4″ floppies? I think I still have a few of those kicking around my basement somewhere. (I like how they have to point out that the $26 price does not include the computer system.)

The catalog also featured everything from Apple tie-tacks to a belt buckle and pendants.

They even had an official Apple kite. Sweet. Given the popularity of the brand, Apple really should consider slapping their logo on some new gifties for the 2011 holiday season. I’m sure they’d sell a literal crap-ton.

Check out the rest of the 1983 Apple Gift Catalog, along with tons of other classic Apple memorabilia over at MacMothership.

[via SignalNoise via Bit Rebels]

This miniature Apple speaker from Korea’s Destination Seoul is handcrafted from natural apricot wood, measures about 2.6″ x 2″ x 0.5″, and weighs only about a 1/2 an ounce. Inside is a tiny (and probably tinny) little speaker and a lithium-polymer battery, which can be recharged from your USB port. Battery life is rated around 5 hours on a charge. Just connect your iPod or other media player through the 3.5mm jack, and your good to go.

Of course, I can’t imagine the sound that comes out of this little speaker being much louder than the speaker built into your iPod or iPhone already. Then again, you’re probably buying this for the novelty of it, and not because of its audiophile sound quality.

The Apple logo speaker is available over on Etsy, where it’s currently listed for $29.99 (USD). That is, until Apple’s lawyers ask them to remove it. Want it? You’d better grab one now.

[via iPhone Savior]

An outfit in the UK going by the name of iPatch (nice name) plans on offering an upgrade to your iPhone 4, which ads a lovely glowing LED behind the Apple logo. It’s designed to light up whenever your screen is on, and turns off when the screen is off. They say they’ve experienced no meaningful drop in battery life when it’s turned on, and they may offer them with colored filters too if white isn’t your thing.

The guys at iPatch say that the mod is way too involved for users to perform themselves, but will be offering the mod for between £50 and £100 (~$79 to $159 USD) once they’ve worked out all the details. Since they are located in the UK, they plan on releasing a kit for other repair shops around the globe, so they can perform the installation locally. That said, they will accept international orders, but shipping and handling may make the cost unreasonable.

They haven’t started accepting phones yet, but say they’ve got the mod design finalized and hope to release it to the public in mid-October. For more info, hit up the iPatch website. Or maybe we’ll just get lucky and Apple will finally build in a light-up logo of their own on the iPhone 5. I can dream, can’t I?

[via Cult of Mac via Wired]

Yeah, I don’t get it either, but the guys at Taito are making three towel designs including a white one with the PlayStation logo and button designs, a blue one featuring the soon-to-be-extinct current-gen PSP, and a third one with a black background and triangle, circle, X, square designs. Each towel measures about 28″ long, so you might be able to dry off with one, but you won’t be able to wrap one all the way around your body unless your skinnier than Abe from Oddworld.

NCSX is taking pre-orders for the towels for $23.90 (USD) each, and they ship starting in March – just in time to hit the beach for Spring Break.

And here’s the rest of the sign:

As you can see, it’s also adorned with the biggest gold seal of quality you’ll ever see, a testament to it’s awesomeness.

You can buy or bid for the Nintendo CES sign on eBay. Bidding starts at $200 (USD), but you can lock it down for $400. Looking at this thing made me realize that Nintendo is the only one out of the big three that hasn’t changed it’s logo in a long time, which is good news for whoever gets the sign.

[via GameSniped]

Measuring in at 12″ x 12″ and stuffed with fluffy polyfill, this is one of the few Android devices certain not to fit in your pants’ pocket. Each pillow is handcrafted by Etsy seller Craftsquatch, and sells for $19.99 (USD).

Submissions will be classified into 4 groups according to the year level of the contestants: K-3, 4-6, 7-9, and 10-12. Four national finalists will be chosen, one from each of the four groups. The national prize winner gets a ton of prizes, including the privilege of having his or her winning doodle displayed on Google’s homepage for one whole day, reaching out to billions of people. Not even the Louvre can top that kind of exposure!

For more details, check out the contest homepage. Kids (who live in the United States and are in school), grab your pen and paper and start doodling!

[via Inventor Spot]

Remember those logos pirates! For they will be the last thing you – nah. Here’s le kicker in all of this serious law and order shit: turns out the font used in the logo was unlicensed. The font, called “Bienvenue”, is an “exclusive corporate typeface” meant only to be used for France Telecom-Orange products.  In other words, the anti-piracy agency just committed piracy.

Hadopi has already apologized, and France Telecom-Orange said that they won’t sue, but the creator of the font, Jean-François Porchez, is considering pressing charges. Also, Hadopi, that’s strike one.

[via TorrentFreak via Boing Boing]

I think what I like best about these cufflinks over some of those we’ve seen before is the fact that they’re thin and flat, and even a little dark. From a distance, they’ll just look like plain ol’ cufflinks. Sneaky.

Of course, if you want to be a little more obvious, you can try these other Xbox-inspired cufflinks, also from the CufflinkConnections store.

Yeah, slightly more obvious there… but not as obivous, as, say, Star Wars minifig cufflinks–which are also available from the same store. Maybe it should be named RandomCufflinkConnections. Or maybe I should stick to blogging, ’cause my store-naming skills are not so strong.

The t-shirt lights up using an electroluminescent display that responds to music and other ambient sounds.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

And while Apple hasn’t used the classic rainbow logo since 1998, I have a funny feeling that neither Steve Jobs nor the T-Qualizer guys had anything to do with this shirt. That said, you’d better get your hands on one before somebody’s lawyers see this post.

If you move quick, you can grab one over at JetsSoBox or over on eBay for somewhere between $20 and $45 USD.

How did he do it? Lasers. Okay no, but that works for pies. Apple fan-san simply placed iPod- and Apple logo-shaped stickers on the apples as the fruits were growing, and when they ripened, voila. He got sued. Don’t believe a word I say.

Seriously though, can he get sued for this?

Somebody make us some Windows Windows. No wait.  Somebody make us a Linux Penguin. They need the publicity. Plus they definitely won’t sue.

[via Weird Asia News via Geekologie]

Is this a matter of stupidity or subliminal sabotage? Are the Belkinites a bunch of closeted Zune lovers or are they just a bit clueless? I mean heck, I don’t have a Zune or anything but of course I know what the logo looks like because of this…

This brandtastic FAIL is not for sale yet but feel free to check out the product page.

[via Crave]

Richard Thomas’ clever creation is made from sliced kiwis, bananas, oranges, strawberries, green and red grapes and blueberries.

Ironically, not a single apple found its way into the picture.

[Flickr via Inspire me, now!]

French artist Space Invader is known for leaving his mark all over the globe by placing tile art versions of pixelated gaming invaders in unexpected places.

His upcoming exhibition, entitled London Invasion and Bad Men Part II runs from October 5th through November 9th, 2007 at London’s Lazarides Gallery. Works on display include the Rubik’s robot pictured here among other pop art works.

[via Urban Retro Lifestyle]

In addition to the over-the-top case design, the system is loaded up with a goodly amount of high-end components, including:

• Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 CPU w/ Asus Silent Square HSF
• Asus P5B-Deluxe Motherboard
• 3GB DDR2 Memory (2GB Gskill HZ DDR2-800 & 1GB (512×2) Kingston HyperX DDR2-1066)
• 3x500GB Western Digital WD5000YS Hard Drives
• BFG 8800GTS 640MB Video Card
• Soundblaster X-Fi Platinum
• 18x Sata DVDRW w/ lightscribe
• Hiper 580watt Power Supply
• Noritake 3900 512×32 VFD
• PCI fan controller & LPT port

It even includes a matching, custom painted 20-inch LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse, and slick aluminum mouse pads to round out the system. And how can you resist that cool blue illumination around the digg logo? There’s even a bright blue RSS reader module that displays the current top Digg stories and displays them on the front of the case.

The machine has been touring the country as a showcase piece for the company, and has only about 30 hours of use on it. Now that they’re ready to move on to the next big thing, so it’s up for sale. Starting bid for this one-of-a-kind machine is $2500, but it’s sure to rise before the auction ends on September 27th. If you’d like to get in on the bidding action, check out the entire auction listing here.