Wacky Robots are ideal greeters. The programmable sign on the pianist cat combined with music and repartee will entertain and inform your company guests. Captain Wacky will communicate with your customers whilst riding around the venue distributing literature. WE WILL DRESS THEM TO SUIT THE OCCASION

Was H.P. Lovecraft a believer in the paranormal? - Lovecraft has been called the most influential horror writer of the 20th Century, & that is arguably true. To what extent did Lovecraft actually understand the Occult? And is the only logical answer to this 'Ia! Ia! Cthulhu Fthagn! Ph’nglui mglw’nfah Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn'? Fortean Times has the answer.

? It's a flash . . horse . . interactive . . singy thing. I'm not sure what it is but it's sort of funny and sort of brilliant.

What would it look like if millions of spiders spun webs in one place? For reasons that area scientists don't really understand, millions and millions of tiny black spiders called Halorates ksenius - they have no common name - became trapped in Russell Jervis' clover field and started spinning webs.

The National Toy Hall of Fame - the greatest toys ever? I think Plasticine was far superior to Play-Doh, and I've never heard of Lincoln Logs, but I'd agree with the majority of these. I think I'd nominate a train set (Hornby 00 gauge?) or possibly Scalextric??

Metafilter has turned on signups for new users. At least as of 7:19 EST the new user link was turned on at MetaFilter, Matt is asking for a $5 donation to sign up. more inside

Mk, let's try this again... I bounced around the idea of a Monkey Secret Santa for Chrismukkah a few months ago, but the entire thing sort of died following the Great Purge of 2004. I'm still up for it if you are. more inside

Joint Stereo MP3s: The Myths and the Realities. A link for all those monkeys who are getting into mp3s, but aren't as advanced as our resident music fanatic forksclovetofu.

The Future of Media "In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline. The Fourth Estate's fortunes have waned. What happened to the news? And what is Epic?" This is a fascinating flash movie from 10 years in the future describing the development of the history of media. Created by the bloggers at Snarkmarket.

Clotaire Rapaille is an evil genius marketer who cracks psychological "codes" while delivering crazy-sounding quotes. Did I mention he lives like a king in a Castle in upstate NY? Well, he does. Frontline interview here.

"And what was the key element of safety when you were a child? It was that your mother fed you, and there was warm liquid. That's why cupholders are absolutely crucial for safety."

solipsistic.org. Description? Um, anachronistic dada? You may have seen me discover this site at another site, or not. It's more better to share it here, I think, than there, for now. Click gently and with a free associatin' frame of mind, and gems await. Really.

Woman breastfeeds dog A New Zealand woman says she is breastfeeding her Staffordshire bull terrier pup because she wants the dog to protect her baby girl as the pair grow up. bugmenomore nohassles

Image of Virgin Mary on old toast fetching thousands of hits on ebay The end of civilization is surely upon us. more inside

Mmmmmm.... Get your daily dose of Vitamin L! Whoever said British cuisine was dead?

Economists. [Flash]

Distance running shaped human evolution. "Our African ancestors may have been talented endurance athletes." But now that we have MonkeyFilter, we can spend the day sitting.

What's up in North Korea? Yesterday the first stories about this began to break on international media sites leading to much speculation and not a lot of attention by media here in the States. Today Kim Jong-Il makes an appearance to front line troops. more inside

Curious George: Freelance web sites Do any of you creative types out there use freelance sites to get work? In particular, I was wondering about sologig.com, but I would really like to know about other similar sites like guru.com and elance.com (but not including Craigslist, Monster, HotJobs or Careerbuilder). more inside

Creation Theory and Evolution should be taught side by side (obnoxious reg. possibly required) This is a daily debate in the US, I know, but rare here in Oz - our fledgling Christian Values political party is advocating that Creation Science be taught side by side with Evolution. more inside

Standing up for America: 20somethings trek cross-country on a Segway scooter "There was no mad dash in the home stretch of a 100-day journey across the country - just the same pokey 10 mph, and all the better to get a good glimpse of what you are passing by. The journey of a lifetime and a trip in search of a documentary film wound its way slowly through Natick and Needham yesterday, eventually winding up in Boston more than three months after it began in Seattle. Five 20somethings -- traversing the country while one rode a Segway motorized two-wheel scooter tailed by an SUV -- decided to leave the stuffy corporate world and hit the road for a glimpse of the American landscape. "We wanted to inspire people by telling a positive story of America," said Hunter Weeks, 27." more inside