You’re getting a sneak preview at just a small slice of part deux of Nike Sportswear’s winter collection, the first of which they launched on the opening day of the Olympics in August. It continues to feature the eight iconic Nike shoes (Cortez, Air Max, Dunk) and apparel (Windrunner, AW77 Hoody) but in new, snazzy colorways and prints like camouflage and classic plaid. The line debuts Nov. 6 everywhere, and no doubt you’ll be having a few items to put on your Christmas list. To see the entire line, stay tuned to the brand’s site for more.

Jamaica’s Usain Bolt may hold the title of world’s fastest man, but we think you can take him. Even if your leg muscles have atrophied from all of that time you spend seated in front of your computer, you can still defeat this year’s Olympic gold medalist in both the the 100M and 200M dash. All you need is a pair of limber fingers, a computer and a little bit of heart. It also helps if you go to PumaRunning.com and check out the You Vs. Bolt flash game, which challenges users to outrun the irie island nation’s answer to The Flash as you go head to head, flapping your digits as fast as you can to hopefully best Bolt’s world record of 9.69 seconds. If at first you don’t succeed try, try, again…and let us know how you do. We finished in 9.68 seconds.

Between the opening ceremonies and the most decorated athlete in history, this year’s Olympics in Beijing are arguably larger than life. So how do you pay tribute to something that big? You go small. The Hong Kong Lego Users Group painstakingly recreated everything from The Bird’s Nest to The Water Cube brick by brick in Legos. Tennis, ping-pong, beach volleyball, soccer, sailing, swimming and windsurfing are among the dozens of sports rendered in tiny details in the replica, which measures about 26 feet by 10 feet. If you stare at the images long enough, you can almost spot Michael Phelps’ mother cheering in the bleachers and a sweat-stained George W. Bush mugging with Misty May-Treanor. More than 300,000 Lego bricks and 4,500 Lego people were used to create the display, which is on display until the end of the month at Grand Century Place in Hong Kong.

It’s a scene that has played out many times before: the eyes of world are focused on the opening ceremonies, and the lighting of the Olympic flame effectively announces, “let the games begin.” Ever since the 1936 Games in Berlin, this tradition has enlisted the finest designers around the world to represent the host country in torch form. As the athletes get ready to go for gold in Beijing, The New York Times took a retrospective look at past torches and the newest flame bearer. This year’s torch, formed in the shaped of a traditional Chinese scroll, doesn’t credit one person with its design, but gives the distinction to Lenovo, the company that produces the IBM Thinkpad. Interesting.

via Core77

Ever since Beijing was picked to be the site of the Olympics (which, as we all know, starts on Friday) controversy has ensued. From concerns about pollution to censored web access, issues leading up to the Games are only going to get crispier on this political hotplate. I just got an e-mail from my Brazilian friend Pedro Inoue (a graphic designer who did the splendid work for artist Stephen Doitschinoff’s book), alerting me to an online project he’s co-partner of called Remember Tibet. He’s putting out a request to all creative types to send in any copyright-free work related to the quest for Tibetan freedom — animation, music, T-shirt designs, etc. It’s a sensitive subject that sadly fluctuates from being a hot topic to a cold one and back again, but with China on the international stage this week the issue has never been hotter.