If you want a cup of coffee or a slice of cake at The Vault, you'll have to serve yourself. You'll also have to act as your own cashier because the owner may not be there. So just slip the cash you owe into the honor box or swipe your credit card through the reader. That's because this cafe in Valley City, North Dakota doesn't have any regular employees.

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David and Kimberly Brekke renovated an old bank and turned into a cafe. When they opened The Vault in October, they decided to operate on the honor system. They trust their customers to act honestly.

And it works! David Brekke says that at the end of the typical day, he's not missing any money. On the contrary--there's usually 15% more money than expected in the till. His generous and honest customers actually pay more than necessary.

The Vault sounds like a fun place to go. There are books to read, pianos to play, movie nights, musical performances, and art shows.

-via Hot Air | Photos: The Vault

(Photo: pinguino k)

League of Legends is a hugely popular multiplayer online combat game. Many people do not just play, but play so well that they win tournaments for that game. League of Legends has become so intensely competitive that Robert Morris University-Illinois, a college in Chicago, thinks that it can be called a sport. That's why that college is designating its League of Legends team a varsity sport and is offering team members athletic scholarships. Inside Higher Ed reports:

Starting in September, League of Legends players will join hockey goalies, quarterbacks and point guards as varsity athletes at the Chicago campus. The university is a member of the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics.

The university plans to offer between 45 and 50 athletic scholarships to incoming gamers, said Kurt Melcher, the university’s associate athletic director. The scholarships will pay for 50 percent of tuition and 50 percent of room and board for members of the League of Legends team.

The gamers will be treated like other varsity athletes, Melcher said. They’ll have uniforms, regular practice sessions and postgame meals. Students who need it will also receive tutoring support from RMU’s athletic department.

The League of Legends team will compete in the Collegiate Star League, an eSports league that includes teams from institutions like Harvard, MIT, and the University of California at Berkeley, the athletics official said.

-via Christine Ramsey

(Photo: Yellow.Cat)

This is the Tower of Hercules near La Coruña, Spain--the northwestern tip of the Iberian peninsula. It may be the only ancient lighthouse still in use. It's possible that a Phoenician work preceded it, but we can be sure that a Roman structure lies at the core of this tower. The Romans built it sometime during the reign of Emperor Trajan (r. 98-117 A.D.), who was himself from an area that forms modern Spain. The Romans referred to it in classical writings as Farum Brigantium.

During the Eighteenth Century, the architect Eustaquio Giannini conducted a renovation of the site, building a 161-foot tower over the original 112-foot Roman one.

(Photo: Juan José García Fernández)

-via Amusing Planet

(Photo: unknown)

Liberty, equality, and brotherhood--these words formed a common republican slogan during the French Revolution. If the revolutionaries had included Beyoncé, would there have been fewer decapitations?

-via Global Street Art

Yes, you're looking at a computer screen. But I'll bet that if you take a good slurp, you'l be able to detect a bit of chocolate from Danielle's Rolo cheesecake bars. They're made with Rolo candies, which are gobs of caramel encased in chocolate.

Danielle made them by first putting down a layer of graham cracker crumbs, then adding a mixture of cream cheese and mini Rolos. She topped it with chocolate and Rolo halves. Yummy! I'd try to make it, but I'm afraid that I'd eat the ingredients before finishing the recipe.

-via Endless Simmer

France is doing pretty well, so I don't know what Captain Picard is facepalming about. Perhaps instead the graphic designer responsible for the logo was expressing personal frustration at his own team.

-via Geekologie

I have the look for you this summer. Crocs? Uggs? No. The future is Barbie head shoes. Jeffrey Campbell designed these gorgeous wedges that will definitely make people look at you twice. Surely there could be no better way to express your sense of style than by walking on severed doll heads.

-via Caroline Pardilla

(Photo: Joseph C. Dowell/Kern County Fire Department)

On Friday, this pit bull puppy was playing with his 7 brothers and sisters. He is, perhaps, not the brightest dog in his litter. He somehow got his head stuck in a car wheel. The worried owner drove him to the local fire department and asked firefighters to free him.

The firefighters used vegetable oil from their kitchen to lubricate the dog. After about 10 minutes of careful movement, they were able to free him.

-via David Burge

Dr. David Glowacki is a chemistry professor at the University of Bristol (UK). He's an expert on “computational simulation of classical and quantum reaction dynamics” and the “non-equilibrium statistical mechanics & energy transfer,” among other topics. So this kind of behavior should not be unexpected.

He attended a performance of Handel's "Messiah." Departing from the norms of classical orchestral etiquette, Tom Morris, the director, invited members of the audience to "clap and woof" as they felt inspired by the music. Dr. Glowaki, alas, went a bit too far with this freedom. The Independent reports:

But Dr Glowacki, a Royal Society Research Fellow, was so overcome during the ‘Hallelujah Chorus’ he began lurching from side to side with his hands raised and whooping before attempting to crowd-surf, witnesses claimed.

Irritated by the distraction, audience members proceeded to physically eject the Bristol University academic from the area, in what Mr Morris claims is the first such incident at a classical concert since the 18th century.

Some ticket holders are now urging Mr Morris to set clearer guidelines for acceptable behaviour but the director is unwilling to re-impose the strict rules of etiquette which he has sought to cast off.

-via Ace of Spades HQ | Photo: David Glowaki

This is the Morrin Cultural Centre in Quebec City, Canada. It was originally built by the French in 1712 as a redoubt. After the British conquest, it served as a prison. The current building was constructed from 1808 to 1813 to continue that role. Prison reformer John Howard designed it as a place to incarcerate but also hopefully reform convicts. It offered workshops and individual cells and segregated prisoners based on the severity of their offenses. It also had an iron balcony for a gallows.

The prison was closed in 1867 and turned over to Morrin College, the newly formed English language school for Quebec City. The Literary and Historical Centre of Quebec took up residence in the renovated prison. When Morrin College shut down, the Society remained in place.

It's still there at the prison, which is now it is the home of the only English language library in Quebec City. As you can see from the Centre's Facebook page, where I found these pictures, it's beautiful.

-via Marilyn Terrell

Crusoe is "the Celebrity Dachshund." So he's famous for being famous. But he's also cute enough to justify the attention he hopes to get.

In this quick 6-second video, he's dressed as a fire truck. When there's a fire in the kitchen, he comes rolling in! It's just a shame that he was driving so fast.

-via Nothing to Do with Aborath

(Photo: Marty Teufel)

2nd Lt. Taylor Batye is a recent graduate of the US Naval Academy and a newly-commissioned officer in the Marine Corps. The Naval Academy maintains certain traditions for the first salute of a graduate. Batye wanted her first salute to go to her grandfather, retired Army Sgt. Maj. David Teufel.

Unfortunately, Teufel was too ill to attend Batye's graduation in Annapolis. He was in an intensive care unit in a hospital in Missouri. So Batye drove 16 hours from Maryland to Missouri to exchange her first salute with her grandfather. The Marine Corps Times reports:

On Sunday, Batye’s mom, Marty Teufel, snapped a photo as the newly minted Marine officer got the salute for which she had waited.

“I wish you could’ve seen the emotion when she walked in in uniform and said, ‘Give me my salute, grandpa,’ ” Marty Teufel told Marine Corps Times.

When Batye arrived, three of the nurses on staff in the ICU joined the family to see the exchange. Teufel has since requested that the photo be blown up and framed so he can keep it by his bed, Marty said.

-via I Own the World

A Quora contributor posed this incredibly indelicate question. Slate, which has been very Slate-like lately, posted it and the most highly ranked response. This led to lengthy discussions in social media about that topic.

On Twitter, Michael Tabb pinged J.K. Rowling, the author of the Harry Potter series, and asked her the question. Rowling responded with a perfectly phrased response to this indecent inquiry.

@michaeljtabb Does a dehumanised wizard killer who murders in the pursuit of his own immortality forfeit the right to ALL privacy, Michael?

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) June 17, 2014

Bravo, Ms. Rowling! There are some topics that do not warrant public discourse.

-via Pleated Jeans

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In a high school basketball game last year, Izzy Wagner of Mount Miguel High School (Spring Valley, CA) had a clear, unopposed dunk. But he missed. He saw this while still in the air. So, hanging from the rim, he grabbed the rebounding ball and secured a dunk.

Alas, it was for naught. Sports on the Side, a news site for sports in the San Diego area, informs us that the rules of basketball do not permit dunking while hanging from the rim.

-via 22 Words

(Image: CNN)

One of the major trends in libraries in the United States is the development of makerspaces--places where library users can build or fix physical or digital objects. A library may provide tools, such as 3D printers, CNC mills, laser cutters, and digital production hardware to patrons who wouldn't be able to afford them on their own. The purpose of a makerspace is to introduce patrons to emerging technologies and give them the skills that they need for future.

The library of the University of South Florida in Tampa is offering a new take on the makerspace trend. It's offering to students a tech tool facility that includes an aerial drone. It's a 5-pound 4-rotor remote-controlled vehicle. This is a circulating item--meaning that students can check it out.

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Students who want to fly the drone must meet certain requirements:

Students will need to enroll in a training course before they can check out the equipment. They'll also be required to provide an explanation on how the drone will be utilized in a school project, and they must be supervised by a faculty member while operating it around the campus. As of now, the program aims to keep the drones on USF's campus unless a professor makes the case for an exception, and students will be liable for any damages to the equipment.

-via Library Journal