The maps you didn’t know you needed aren’t “useful” by traditional standards, but what they lack in convention they more than make up for in good design and flat-out fun.

1. Red Bull Street Art View

In a genius collaboration with Google Street View, Red Bull has put together a heat map of street art around the globe. You can click on the interactive map, view random art, or add your own. Check out San Diego for some vintage Shepard Fairey.

2. Generic Names for Soft Drinks

In an incredibly serious scientific study, Alan McConchie attempted to answer the epic “Pop vs. Soda“ conundrum. He polled some goofballs (mostly in California) and his findings became this informative map. The regional difference between calling soda “pop” (or the other way around) may be lost on non-Americans, but the quickest way to look like a foreigner is to get it wrong. Study up “Fizzy Lifting Drink” consumers.

3. 100 Years of [Movie] Set Locations

It’s not surprising that BoxOfficeQuant, a blog dedicated to statistics in film, would come up with this map. They took 2,001 films from the past 100 years and mapped their filming locations onto this handy interactive Google Map. Some of the locations will surprise you (did you know parts of the 5th Element were filmed in Republic of Mauritania?).

4. I Call Mine…

Traveling to the UK and/or in a need of some really good new euphemisms for “willy”? We thought so! Check out the new UK based site I Call Mine, a map that shows different regions of the UK and their own male-member nicknames. An ingenious advertising campaign for UK-based Lloydspharmacy, the nicknames are weird, most are incredibly naughty, and you should only click through the map if you have a high tolerance for raunchiness.

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According to treehugger, American Airlines will be making the switch from paper flight charts to iPad tablets. Yes, the switch will save a lot of paper, but a benefit that we wouldn’t have thought about is the savings in fuel by eliminating paper weight on the planes. The required paperwork that pilots carry onboard currently can weigh as much as 35 lb. Compare that to a 1.5 lb iPad. The switch will also save space in the cockpit.

Image: Nick Bastian Tempe, AZ/Flickr

It’s estimated that this difference in weight will save AA $1.2 million per year in fuel costs, plus the savings they will make in paper. Searching data and the ability to zoom in on maps could also potentially make life a lot easier for the pilots. The US-approved tablet will be able to be safely switched on during takeoffs and landings, a first in the airline industry, but passengers’ devices will still have to remain off.

It certainly sounds like a win-win-win situation — less paper, less fuel, and happier pilots.

The application is free and the maps are interactive and searchable. In a hurry to find the nearest elevator? Or just trying to make your next trip to the shopping mall as efficient as possible? You can pre-map your route so you’re not wasting time aimlessly wandering about the mall. And you’ll know where you are in relation to your destination. Easy peasy.

In the airport, if the signs indicating where the gates are aren’t clear enough for you, simply look it up in the app. No Internet connection is needed once you’ve downloaded the map. Retailers can also promote events and special offers within the app, meaning you’ll know where the best deals are.

Follow their blog to stay in touch with their latest news and updates and to gain insights like which are the three most heavily used mall maps in the US (the answer is the Mall of America in Minnesota, the Bellevue Collection in Washington, and Sawgrass Mills in Florida).

How long do you think it will take until we see “Google Indoors”?

The maps have been developed by who you could affectionately label as “mappies”, from the University of Sheffield in England. Instead of just color-coding maps for example, countries with high or low statistics in essence bubble up or down. For example on the Internet users map, the United States inflates to be larger than normal, while South America significantly deflates.

Popular a few years ago, it appears these animated bubble maps may be making a comeback. It’s somewhat entertaining to view the diversity of maps and see powerhouses like China and the United States seem to significantly inflate and deflate on topics such as age of death, income and population. Worldmapper has even recently taken on the social space, and you can find them both on Facebook and Twitter.

[Photo courtesy of Worldmapper.]

Enjoy!

• Things you would rather not hear on a plane: an automated voice letting you know “we’re about to crash”. At least the 275 passengers who heard said recording on a British Airways flight on Tuesday received a quick, “Just kidding!” from the cabin crew. [Gawker]
• My Scratch Map combines the excitement of playing the lottery with the enjoyment of bragging to all your friends about the cool places you’ve been. We’ll take two. [I want one of THOSE]
• This sideshow of kitschy, offensive, and probably out-of-print postcards makes us yearn once again for the early ’90s.  [news.com.au]
• 15 stunning natural phenomenon that give Pandora a run for its money! [Matador Trips]
• The SnazzyNapper resembles a human sleeping bag and is the newest travel accessory that was seemingly made for mockery. [Jaunted]
• Love baseball but have no desire to leave your fantastic hotel suite? If you’re not too lazy, check out the top hotels that offer a view of a major league field from their rooms. [Urban Daddy]
• An artsy, design-inspired travel guide to Mexico City. The colors! The cafes! Count us in. [Design*Sponge]

Photo courtesy of NileGuide/Flickr