No birdbrains here! Ravens in Japan have not only adapted to urban living, but have also learned new behaviors, such as this clever method for cracking nuts. via Ursi’s Blog

This Interactive Magnetic Letterboard is an online version of those refrigerator magnets shaped like letters. You can move them around, but be warned that other people online are also playing with the same letters! It was quite difficult for me to keep my letters in line long enough to grab a screenshot. You can scroll down and move to another “fridge” with fewer current users if you like. Link

Hauntworld has haunted houses and other Halloween events listed by state, or by distance from your zip code. You’ll find addresses, prices, hours, and ratings for most listings. There are also tips for staging your haunted house and links to plenty of other Halloween sites. Link

eBay Motors has a M400X Skycar VTOL Prototype Aircraft for sale. Bidding was at $2.5 million last I checked.

The prototype M400 Skycar®, is powered by eight air-cooled Rotapower® rotary engines; two in each of the four nacelles. Each nacelle contains two engines and two independently rotating fans and is capable of generating approximately 500 pounds of vertical thrust. The nacelles rotate 45 degrees and have thrust deflection vanes that provide for an additional 45-degree change in direction of the airflow to produce the 90-degree (vertical) thrust required for takeoff and hovering. Both the nacelles and deflection vanes are intended to operate in the horizontal position while at cruise speeds.

There are good cats and bad cats on video, but there’s something very appealing about November, who sticks with his treadmill routine longer than most humans. Hit play or go to YouTube.

It Punkin Chunkin time! The 2006 World Championship will be held November 3-5 in Sussex County, Delaware. Contestants build complex contraptions to shoot or fling pumpkins to amazing distances. For a demonstration from 2004, hit play or go to YouTube. There’s also a pumpkin cooking contest, a chili cookoff, and a concert. Link -via Miss Cellania

Enter your first name and last name, and the database will tell you how many people with your name live in the USA. You’ll also get some interesting trivia about your name. I entered my legal name and my professional name and got similar results, common, but not too common. Then I entered my online persona, Miss Cellania and got a big fat zero! Link -via Yesbutnobutyes

Computer user Sc4freak experimented with “submersion-cooling” and made himself some French fries at the same time. He literally deep-fried his computer while using it! Link

This 5-year-old girl named Muskaan skated underneath 40 cars last Thursday in Gwalior, India, demonstrating awesome flexibility, control, and courage. To see the feat, hit play or go to YouTube. More details about her are available on this earlier video...when she was only four!

Most people are familiar with Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking video for the song Thriller. Lately, we’ve also seen the video in different forms, such as the Thriller in Legos, Thriller in Second Life, and the Bollywood style (although its a different song). But nothing beats a live public recreation! Every October, Mecca Dance Studio and Gallery stages a resurrection of Michael Jackson's "Thriller" video in the streets of downtown Lexington, Kentucky. See a video of last year’s performance here, and a Flickr photoset here. This year’s event is set for October 22nd. Participation is free and open to the public. However, they would like you attend the rehearsals.

Every room at the Propeller Island City Lodge in Berlin is decorated in a completely different style. These rooms are works of art! You can see each room at the website. Here’s just one:

In both coffins you can even slumber beneath closed lids! Exclusively connoisseur room for all those "Nosferatus" who cannot wait for that which awaits us all. Whosoever has second thoughts can creep to the bedplace below, safe within the labyrinth. Not only a unique experience for Gothic die-hards...an exquisite location on top of that!

An ad from the Dove Real Beauty campaign, highlighting the difficulty of looking like a model. Other Dove videos on the subject of young girls’ self-esteem can be found here and here, plus my thoughts on the campaign from last year. via J-Walk Blog

Lend an extra-special spooky touch to your Halloween party or haunted house with a jar of glowing water. You can make it yourself, with step-by-step directions from Instructables. Link | via Grow-a-Brain