The LEGO Roller Coaster - Some facts about it: • Average scale speed from the top of the elevator to the station is about 65 mph, or 105 kph. • Estimated scale speed at terminal velocity at the bottom of the first hill is 140 mph or 225 kph. • 2 sections of 4.5 volt track was used almost every one section of length, or about 240 sections total (480 rail pieces). more inside

Araucaria Araucana, aka, the Monkey Puzzle. [PDF] more inside

Before there were dashboard CD players there was 16 rpm. You may know it as that setting on old record players that made Peter Frampton sound like Satan. But in 1956 Chevrolet teamed with inventor Peter Goldmark to create the granddaddy of modern car stereos. Unfortunately customers weren't interested in funking it up on the new Interstates, and the gadget was dropped. Except for the government's talking books program, 16 rpm quickly faded into obscurity.

Kiva. A very cool way to help people in developing countries (currently East Africa only) start, maintain, or expand their businesses.

MeFi/MoFi/Mecha Meetup: Now with DaShiv! Three great tastes that taste great together. Be a part of the first inaugural Metafilter, Monkeyfilter and MetaChat meetup, featuring the talented DaShiv and his roving camera of joy. more inside

Is who? Napoleon's Explosive.

Out-Dada-ing the Dada-ists In which an interloper does damage to what has been called one of the most influential works of modern art, Duchamp's Fountain. The same "performance artist" vandalized the artwork back in 1993 when he tried to use the repurposed urinal for its original indended purpose. Art lover or hater?

Help me draw a straight line in photoshop I'm not kidding. more inside

Finnegans Wiki Read the book, read the annotations, annotate the book. more inside

Friday Fecal Fun. "The doo-doo man occupies a horrible sweet spot in the collective Jungian fabric. He is the primal demon who pops out of the doughnut display at us all."

Carrot Juice Constitutes Murder (sound required) Funny stuff. Found it at this little piece of crazy.

Lou Rawls has passed away. The Man Frank Sinatra said had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game." His smoky-smooth soulful voice, recorded over a prolific career, will be missed.

Trancing Bunnies. Many people know you can hypnotise chickens but you can also put bunnies in a trance which is useful for trimming nails etc.

Punch it! Ideas from the 50s by a German scientist could mean a hyperdrive machine is possible. I don't understand half of this, but can't wait to see the stars turn into white streaks as I outrun an Imperial Star Destroyer.

A Cartoon Epistemology - wrap your frontal lobes around this lot, readers. snarfled from Discordian Research Technology

The 10 Commandments of the Ethical Atheist via Bifurcated Rivets

Cat dials 911, saves life. No, really. I'm allergic to them, and I'm not a huge fan of their demeanor, but I know the MoFites loves them some cats. Here's a feel-good news blurb about one I might actually be able to get behind.

Space 1999 comics more inside

"Banana Note" worth big bucks. "An ordinary fruit sticker that mysteriously ended up on a $20 bill could spur collectors to bid up to 1,000 times the bill's face value at an auction Friday."

Catblogging: The Cat Family Tree. The evolution of Cats is a difficult matter, It's much more complex than at once it appears; You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter When I tell you, cats go back 35 million years.