It appears Google is advertising its Maps service on the New York City subway. I found these pictures on my buddy Nick’s Tumblr, thus leading me to believe that Google would prefer you to use the Maps service over Hopstop. Too bad it’s stuck on the shuttle train.

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Target must be pissed. The company approaches the holidays with new gift cards that have a built-in 1.2-megapixel digital camera and what does its competitor, Best Buy, do? Best Buy tries a different route with gift cards that have speakers built in to them.

While not nearly as cool as Target’s concept, Best Buy has gotten this far by offering bullshit services like pairing your Bluetooth headset with your phone for $10 bucks. Being able to plug your gift card into your iPod right before you clear the $50 credit at the cash register seems pointless to me. Let’s see if Best Buy follows the way of Circuit City.

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Most of the home theaters we’ve seen offer little more than a large picture and crisp, quality sound. However, it is Monday and as such, an obligatory Star Wars post was bound to show up. Today, we acknowledge Steve Simon’s love for Star Wars and the dedication he (and a few friends) put into this Star Wars-themed home theater system.

It took them about a year and a half to turn Steve’s garage into Chancellor Palpatine’s office, complete with computer-generated imaging that makes it seem like you’re overlooking the Galactic City. It’s just like the movies! Sure, it’s got a 1080p DLP projector and B&W speakers just like many other expensive home theater systems, but it also has a style that would make even Mr. Lucas jealous.

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I wonder if you can get a model train set to emulate the subway…

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A unique artist named Posterchild has transformed a series of rough, old pipes into loving seats. He calls them “seating caps” and designs them out of wood and metal. He’s made five and has installed them throughout his city. I think this idea of a “seating cap” would go over well in New York. It’s a low-cost solution to loitering!

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Music can be really costly these days, especially if you’re the one guy caught leaking the Guns N’ Roses album on to the net.  Even music stores mark up prices on both uses and new CDs at an outrageous rate. It almost seems like everyone is out to get anyone who loves listening to music.

Well, Amazon wants you to know that it’s not out to get you with overpriced music from classic artists.  I mean afterall, you’ve probably heard most of the songs on a CD you’re willing to buy, anyway. Amazon wants to hook up all those in the KISS Army by letting the Greatest Kiss album go for just $1.99. That’s like 12 cents a song! This album has all the hits, too! Deuce, Strutter, Detroit Rock City and more! It seems like all it’s really missing is Love Gun. This deal will be going on the whole weekend through Monday. If you’re a KISS fan that doesn’t already have this album, don’t miss out.

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Just a quick tip for those of you out there in need of an Xbox 360. You may want to consider hitting up the infamous Circuit City for your console, as the big box retailer seems to be feeling more generous as of late. For each Xbox 360 you pick up post price-cut, you’ll get a card worth 1600 Microsoft Points to go along with it. They’ll also give you a $10 gift card and a free t-shirt if you pick up GRAW 2 and a bunch of titles are selling for $15. Not too shabby. Now let’s wait and see what Best Buy’s next Sunday ad says.

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This past weekend, during the Defcon hacker convention in Las Vegas, several MIT students who were prepared to give a talk regarding the security of Boston’s public transit system were stopped. A judge ruled to ban the presentation after the city realized a gaping vulnerability was about to become exposed. For now, the talks have been stopped, but now everyone has focused attention to Boston. The city must have quite the security flaw going on.

Though the talks were stopped, Defcon attendees received the key data on a CD. It’s only a matter of time before the system is duped and Boston is forced to plug it’s security holes.

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Who says pigeons are merely rats with wings? You show me a rat who can use an iPhone like this pigeon and I’ll believe it. Until then, pigeons are just as hip and tech savvy as a remote controlled pigeon or a pigeon with an ass camera. Now does someone want to explain why this gentleman has a pigeon in his apartment?

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For those not familiar with the Facebook application Cityware, it uses Bluetooth technology to monitor tens of thousands of people around the world via their mobile phone and then dumps the data on Facebook. The best part? None of these people give their consent to be monitored.

You say your boyfriend got the sweats when you asked him how The Dark Knight was? That’s because he never went to see the movie. Instead, he was out sleeping around because he thinks you’re such a bad lay. With Cityware, you can see where that no-good cheatin’ son of a bitch is going out at nights. As long as his Bluetooth is enabled, the freely-available Cityware software will track his movements. The folks behind Cityware claim it’s not a big deal. Stating that no data linking individuals to specific movements is ever recorded. Then again, when there’s a will, there’s a way.

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