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Remember the hovering sphere that Luke Skywalker used during his early lightsaber training with Obi-Wan Kenobi? YouTube user trooperkent made one of his own out of a hovering globe.

via Make

Star Trek and The Andy Griffith Show were sometimes filmed on the same lot. Specifically, the episodes "Miri" and "City on the Edge of Forever" used the lot that was also used to represent the town of Mayberry. You can view more pictures of this connection at the link.

Link via reddit | Image: Paramount

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This video allegedly shows a machine that can lay 400 yards of brick road a day. But I can't find any information about it beyond Internet buzz. What do you think -- is it real?

via Gizmodo

The Tampa-based artist known as P$ynner painted this handgun. It's a Bersa Thunder .380 caliber semi-automatic.

via The Breda Fallacy | Artist's Website

Just in case they were thinking of doing otherwise, signs at the new city hall building in Chandler, Arizona warn people that they shouldn't drink from the toilets and urinals:

A few employees have been cracking jokes and speculating about what it would take to make them slurp from potties when water fountains and sinks are a few feet away.

"I'm glad that I saw that sign because I was very thirsty and looking for a means to quench my thirst," Mayor Boyd Dunn quipped. "Seriously, I'm certain there's some regulation out there that requires that type of sign."

Link via Popehat | Photo: Mark Henle/ The Arizona Republic

Flickr user Pichu71 made a cross-stitch that depicts a QR code. She writes:

I've just fininished stitching this QR code (created online) for my brother-in-law's birthday. He is a computer/ technology freak. Could someone please read it and tell me if my "spelling" is correct as I do not own a smart phone myself.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/41868492@N07/5163653619/ via Geek Crafts | Crafter's Blog

Charlie Kested of Johnstown, NY spent 10 years carving a wooden replica of the Declaration of Independence:

The massive piece, which is nearly as tall as Kested himself, was finally completed several months ago. It’s an exact wood model of the Declaration of Independence, right down to the flourish of John Hancock’s signature at the bottom. The dark walnut words are a stark contrast against the Baltic birch background.[...]

Link via First Things | Photo: Leader-Herald

A Nashville-based company called Lil Big Rig converts Ford F-250 pickup trucks into scaled-down semi-trailer trucks:

For $13,000, Lil Big Rig can convert your 1980s-1990s two-wheel-drive Ford F-250, long-bed full-size Chevrolet pickup (1973-1987 model years in either 4X4 or 4X2) or 1994-2003 Dodge Ram standard cab pickup (either 4X4 or 4X2). Lil Big Rig replaces the standard truck body with a fiberglass Peterbilt or Kenworth cab and front hood/fender assembly. A semi truck-esque rear body and two extra dual rear wheels are added on to make your truck look like a traditional Peterbilt or Kenworth semi.

The interior is completely revised and resembles the cab of a semi, and what’s a semi truck without a rear space to relax in? All Lil Pete and Lil Kenny kits come with a full rear sleeper available with seats or room for an actual bed.

Link via Jalopnik | Photo: Robby DeGraff

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Smigly is the central character in an ongoing series of animated shorts by Allen Mezquida. In "Noise", Smigly tries to variously clear his head when it's time to sleep, or concentrate when he wants to read a book. But the eternal buzz of Twitter, Amazon, YouTube, email, and Facebook updates pursues him.

Official Website -- Thanks, Allen!

The Speech Accent Archive is a project by George Mason University linguistics professor Steven H. Weinberger. It records people from different parts of the world reading this paragraph in the English language:

Please call Stella. Ask her to bring these things with her from the store: Six spoons of fresh snow peas, five thick slabs of blue cheese, and maybe a snack for her brother Bob. We also need a small plastic snake and a big toy frog for the kids. She can scoop these things into three red bags, and we will go meet her Wednesday at the train station.

Link via Marginal Revolution

Nothing brightens up an office or a living room coffee table like a rancid, leaking biological specimen of uncertain origin. But a fresh human body part in a clean jar of formaldehyde doesn't present the ideal ambiance. Kwafi, an artist who makes small decorative objects of a macabre nature, made a model that looks like an aged specimen in a jar. At the link, you can find step-by-step directions on how to make your own.

Link via Super Punch

A business operating from the Burj Al Arab luxury hotel in Dubai offers temporary tattoos made from gold:

Starting at AED200 for a small gold tattoo and AED400 for an equivalent platinum one, the temporary tattoos have been available in the emirates for just two months.

Originating from Japan, the tattoos are created from 99 percent gold or platinum foil that is applied directly to the skin. Application takes around 10 minutes.

200 AED is worth about 54 US dollars.

Link via Born Rich | Photo: Arabian Business

Instructables user J_Hodgie made a papercraft mech that moves as a handle on the base is cranked. It's made to resemble the Mad Cat mech from Battletech.

Link via Make

A brother and sister in Pinner, UK, cleaned out the house belonging to their recently-deceased parents. They figured that an old vase that they found might be worth a few bucks, so they decided to have it appraised:

They took it to the local auctioneer Bainbridges, in nearby Ruislip, who were in turn excited by the find and valued it at between £800,000 and £1.2m.

However, no one expected the reaction from Chinese buyers, who pushed the bidding up over 30 frenzied minutes to a world record £43m.

By the end of the auction, the price was increasing in £1m chunks as the final few bidders - understood to be mainland Chinese businessmen - vied for the vase.

The final selling price was about $85 million.

Link | Photo: Bloomberg

Apple-1 #82, handmade by Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak, is up for auction at Christie's. It's expected to sell between $159,800 and $239,700:

According to the auction Web site, this version of the Apple computer is number 82 of those made, and was hand built by Steve Wozniak and then “despatched from the garage of Steve Jobs’ parents’ house – the return address on the original packaging present here.” (The Christie’s catalog uses a British spelling of dispatched. )

The version for sale through Christie’ths includes “the original packaging, manuals, cassette interface and basic tape, early documentation and provenance, and a commercially rare letter from Steve Jobs.”

Link via CrunchGear | Photo: Christie's