More and more people in Florida and elsewhere are raising monkeys as a substitute for children. They call them “monkids” and won’t refer to them as pets. Lori Johnson adopted a baby capuchin after her youngest child left home.

At Gemini Springs in DeBary recently, Johnson pushed "Jessy" around in a toy-filled red stroller, a sight that drew attention. "Hey, it's a real monkey," hollered one youngster, who did a double take.

Johnson replied with a grin: "That's not a monkey; that's my kid."

The trend is controversial. Animal sanctuaries are seeing a rise in monkeys who are abandoned or relinquished as they mature. The Jungle Friends Primate Sanctuary in Gainesville has a waiting list of monkeys that need placement.

Many owners say they adore their hairy companions and give them the best of care. Animal-rights groups, however, are fighting hard to ban primate pets. Congress is discussing a bill that would prohibit interstate travel for monkeys, a move that would hamper sales.

Beth Preiss, director of The Humane Society's exotic-pets campaign, said animal sanctuaries are full of monkeys whose owners coddled them as infants and then abandoned them when they became tough to control.

Link -via Fark

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They may be stupid, but they are unbelievably lucky answers. -via Bits and Pieces

A couple of years ago, Iowa artist Patrick Acton built a model of Harry Potter’s Hogwarts School completely out of matchsticks. His latest matchstick project is even bigger. He’s building a model of the fortress Minas Tirith from the Lord of the Rings trilogy! Acton expects the model to be completed in 2009. Link -via Dump Trumpet

The set of puppets includes Sigmund Freud, his daughter Anna Freud, Carl Jung, and an analyst’s couch. The box they come in can be used as a puppet theater. Something you can hide behind when you are analyzing your friends or giving unwanted advice. Link -via Everlasting Blort

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I tried my best to resist, but this kitten forced me to post its video. This was on the front page of YouTube, so I totally forgot what I was there looking for. Beware, it’s three minutes of overwhelming cuteness.

It’s hard to see icy patches on the road ahead. Wouldn’t it be great if the road could signal whether it was icy? Scientists are working on a road coating that will turn pink in dangerously icy conditions!

A new temperature-sensitive varnish developed by researchers at French company Eurovia can be applied to road surfaces to warn drivers about dangerous conditions. The technique – still at the testing stage – might help prevent ice-related traffic accidents in future, the researchers say.

The varnish is made of a polymer containing a thermochromic pigment. The same type of coating is already used to make bath thermometers and frozen food packaging that responds to temperature change. However, it is the first time such a coating has been used to monitor road temperatures.

The color change would also make it easier for road crews to distribute salt. The challenge ahead is to make the coating more visible at night, and to make it last through the summer months. Link -via Reddit

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33 years ago, April 4, 1975, 19-year-old Bill Gates and 22-year-old Paul Allen joined forces to create a partnership called Micro-soft. The company incorporated in 1981, and went public in 1986. If you had invested in Microsoft in 1986, the value of that stock would be worth 280 times as much today! Wired has an extremely short version of the history of Microsoft. Link -via Digg

(image credit: Doug Wilson/Corbis)

Think Geek displayed an April Fools Day ad for a product that didn’t exist. The Personal Soundtrack Shirt has a built-in speaker and can play various mood themes to make your real life as dramatic as a movie. The item proved to be so popular that they are now scrambling to produce a real shirt!

Looks like we're the fools here. The Personal Soundtrack T-Shirt was originally an April Fool's Prank... but due to overwhelming positive response and hundreds of e-mails screaming to "make the damn shirt already" we're putting this item in to production ASAP. Keep in mind our army of robotic factory monkeys are a bit slow, and it might take them some time to make the real version of this nifty product. Also although we'll try to keep the Personal Soundtrack T-Shirt as close as possible to what you see here, the final version might deviate slightly in appearance, features or price. Capiche?

No word as to when it will be available, but you can sign up for an email notification. Link -via Geek Like Me

OMG Lists details 7 Weird Superheros Who Won't Ever Hit the Silver Screen (But Should). Would you believe Arm-Fall-Off-Boy, whose superpower is that he can pull one arm off with the other? Or the Chlorophyll Kid, who can stimulate plants to grow fast? These superheroes apparently appeared in some comic book somewhere, since there are panels, but no explanations of their origin are given. Link -via Digg

Lenore Skenazy writes about her son’s first solo subway and bus trip in the New York Sun. He had been preparing for the chance, and knew how to read a subway map. The 9-year-old made it home just fine, but half the people who heard about it thought it was too dangerous. What do you think? How can we balance the remote risk of crime with the necessity of teaching children to negotiate the world on their own? Link -via Reddit

The Lunchtime Quiz at mental_floss is on American money. How well do you know the faces on your money? I got 11 out of 12 right; I only missed a bill that I’d never seen before. To be honest, there are several I'd never seen before, but I guessed right on some. http://www.mentalfloss.com/blogs/archives/13888

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I’m Walking is an ad for a seal to certify Germany’s organic farm produce. Six chickens take part in a wacky hurdle race. Written and produced by Bodo von Braunmuehl. See a hi-res version at Soulcage Department Studio. http://www.soulcage-department.de/New/Index-E.html -via Ursi’s Blog

People will do anything to look younger and more attractive, including eating, drinking, and applying placenta, also known as afterbirth. Japanese company Nihon Sofuken sells placenta products for the anti-aging market. Inventor Spot takes a look. As strange as the products themselves are, the attempts at translating from Japanese by machine are even stranger! Link -via Dump Trumpet

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Russian tennis player Mikhail Youzhny became angry when he hit into the net during his third round match Monday against Nicolas Almagro at the Sony Ericsson Open in Key Biscayne, Florida. He reacted by hitting himself in the head -and drew blood! He later won the match, and also became a YouTube hit. Link -via Viral Video Chart

New York City's GreeNYC campaign has a logo that looks like an apple. It makes sense, as the city is known as The Big Apple. But Apple Inc. says it infringes on their trademark. The computer company has filed in injunction in New York’s trademark application.

The Cupertino, California, company calls for the trademark to be denied, claiming the city's logo will confuse people and "seriously injure the reputation which [Apple] has established for its goods and services."

New York says: Getdafugoutaheya.

"The city believes that Apple's claims have no merit and that no consumer is likely to be confused," says Gerald Singleton, the intellectual-property lawyer representing the Big Apple. "This well-known city is using its new design in a variety of contexts that have absolutely nothing to do with Apple Inc."

The dispute is likely to take several months to resolve. http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/news/2008/04/apple_vs_apple#

(image credit: NYC & Company)