Bits: 08.24.10

Yumi Roth, Meta Mapa, 2007

• Yumi Roth's Meta Mapa, as described in the engrossing new book From Here to There: A Curious Collection from the Hand Drawn Map Association: "...Yumi invites local residents to draw maps on their hands that lead to interesting places in their neighborhoods. She photographs the maps and then prints them to create actual maps that she and others then use to navigate the city." See more hand-drawn maps here and here.

• And: Regine reviews The Map as Art: Contemporary Artists Explore Cartography.

• Minneapolis exhibition: A Theory of Values (aka the Minnesota Biennial), featuring Ute Bertog, Jennifer Danos, John Fleischer, Isa Gagarin, Caroline Kent, Chris Larson, Dustin Larson, Kirk McCall, Megan McCready, Andy Messerschmitt, Lester B. Morrison, Jesikah Orman, Joe Smith, Bruce Tapola, Karl Unnasch, Aaron Van Dyke. Opens Aug. 28, the Soap Factory.

• While the AP and Mannie Garcia, who took the shot of Obama that Shepard Fairey appropriated, have dropped charges against each other, Fairey's still on the hook. The AP's copyright infringement suit against him gets going in courts next March.

• A bit of Lady Liberty's nose is for sale. "It's the tip of the nose with the area around the nostrils. It doesn't sound like it would be, but it's fairly attractive looking," said Arlan Ettinger, president of Guernsey's Auction House.

• Nikea. The North Facebook. Blu-Ray-Ban. Logo mash-ups via Logo Design Love.

• One of the top ten jokes at the Edinburgh Fringe: "I picked up a hitch hiker. You've got to when you hit them." (By Emo Phillips.)

• Today in creepy security technology: Airport skeletal scans! (Via Bruce Schneier.)

• The Tron-a-Sutra. And Darth Vader teaches tai chi.