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This cute kitten is just playing, but he looks like he wants to be Maneki Neko! If that makes no sense to you, see the earlier post Seven Strange Lucky Charms. -via Arbroath

Deputydog has a roundup of the latest technological advances in wheelchairs. There are chairs that can climb stairs, chairs that help you stand up, and even chairs that go through snow! Several videos show them in action. http://deputy-dog.com/2007/12/04/hi-tech-wheelchairs/

Writer and photographer Shreve Stockton took in a baby coyote when his parents were shot for killing sheep in Wyoming. She is documenting Charlie’s life with her and Eli the cat on the blog The Daily Coyote.

If Charlie demonstrates the need or desire to be out in the wild, there are places around here I could safely set him loose. There’s no question he would survive in the wild just fine - his instincts are very intact (more on this later), and though he is gentle and attached to me and to MC, he is afraid of other people.

From the beginning, I have made the commitment to let Charlie decide his destiny; to do right by him without attaching my own desires to the outcome or interfering with human logic. You can join me in seeing what unfolds.

MC refers to a coyote expert who is helping with Charlie. Scroll down the blog and check the archives for adorable baby pictures. Link -Thanks, Bill!

Immersive Media makes 360-degree panoramic videos. Push play, then mouseover to move your viewpoint left or right while the scene moves. You can also pan while the video is paused. This video is 42nd Street in New York City. Other video demos are available at the site. http://demos.immersivemedia.com/ -via Metafilter

I’m glad to see that the Stormtroopers found other employment after the Star Wars saga. Source -via Unique Daily

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An imaginative begger or a cheap busker? This was recorded at Union Square in San Francisco. -via Arbroath

In a study at Tokyo University, 5-year-old chimpanzees displayed better short-term memory than college students!

That challenges the belief of many people, including many scientists, that "humans are superior to chimpanzees in all cognitive functions," said researcher Tetsuro Matsuzawa of Kyoto University.

"No one can imagine that chimpanzees - young chimpanzees at the age of 5 - have a better performance in a memory task than humans," he said in a statement.

Matsuzawa, a pioneer in studying the mental abilities of chimps, said even he was surprised. He and colleague Sana Inoue report the results in Tuesday's issue of the journal Current Biology.

Researchers believe that relative youth helped the chimpanzees, so the next step is to match the chimps against young children. http://news.wired.com/dynamic/stories/C/CHIMP_MEMORY?SITE=WIRE&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2007-12-03-12-

The Switch Me salt and pepper shaker has both salt and pepper in the same unit. You flip the switch to change from one to the other. Link -via Dump Trumpet

How well do you know your TV theme songs? Test yourself with this quiz. Choose from 10, 20, or 30 rounds. I scored 585 in 10 rounds. And I don’t even watch TV! Link -via the J-Walk Blog

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You might remember the Mathematical Love Song by the Klein Four Group. From the same performance, here’s their imaginative arrangement of The 12 Days of Christmas. -via Educational CyberPlayground

Get a fun and fanciful wig for your cat! Available in electric blue, silver, blonde, and pink. Link -via Everlasting Blort

Peter at Tesla Down Under built a Tesla Christmas tree! This photo used a 91 second exposure to show it in action. He also details the project at the site. Link -via Dark Roasted Blend

One Cold Hand? is “a site for the collection and hopeful reunion of Pittburgh’s dropped gloves.” Maybe this idea will spread to other cities, although Miami would probably pass. Link -via Fark

The ETree is an interactive lamp consisting of ten strands of light that you can bend into different shapes. The ETree was designed by Jesus Felipe and Silvia Grimaldi of Nimble Critters. Link to design site. http://kinetica-museum.org/store2/product_info.php?cPath=72&products_id=306 to purchase. -via Dump Trumpet

After producing a comic on the concept, Randall Munroe of xkcd put a ball pit in his home! How cool is that? Link -via Grow-A-Brain