During World War II, Nazi scientists worked at a secret lab in Hillersleben to develop weapons of mass destruction. One of these proposed weapons was the Sun Gun, a space station that would focus the sun’s rays on the enemies of the Third Reich! Read the story at Damn Interesting. Link

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How police are dealing with departmental budget cuts which have left them without proper bagpipes. -via Arbroath

Dignity Village in Portland, Oregon was founded by 8 homeless people. In 2001, city officials granted them rights to live on a selected plot without interference. Now with a population of about 60, the community has a village council, 24-hour security, and a website. deputydog calls it “the most organized shantytown on earth.” http://deputy-dog.com/2008/02/08/the-most-organised-shanty-town-on-earth/

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A Valentines Day music video from PostSecret. This week’s secrets are all about love, both sweet and heartbreaking. http://postsecret.blogspot.com/2008/02/sunday-secrets.html -via Viral Video Chart

What would the world be like if the oceans were land and the land were oceans? This world map takes that idea and runs with it! The picture here is just a detail; see the entire inversed world at Vladstudio. Link -via the Presurfer

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Silent film footage taken in 1909 by Thomas Edison at Stormfield (CT) at Mark Twain's estate. Twain is shown walkng around his home and playing cards with his daughters Clara and Jean. The flickering is due to film deterioration, but this is the only known footage of the great author.

-via Grow-A-Brain

Gravity does the work in this game, all you have to do is rotate the circle, allowing the ball to fall through the maze. It seems simple, but it’s not easy! Link -via b3ta

Deeda Blair has scanned images from Vanity Fair’s Hollywood issue, featuring today’s movie stars in roles from Hitchcock films. Jodie Foster makes a wonderful Tippi Hedren. Link -via Metafilter

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This high school concert started off the show with a Three Stooges sketch, but not on purpose. Good to see the student was OK afterward. -via Gorilla Mask

Jeremy Kipnis has the ultimate home theater.

His Stewart Snowmatte laboratory-grade screen is the biggest I've ever seen in a home, and in the back of the theater, there's a Sony ultra-high-resolution (4,096-by-2,160) SRX-S110 digital projector. I'm looking everywhere, jotting down questions, and Kipnis sounds almost giddy talking about his theater's capabilities. He refers to his baby, the Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS), as "The Greatest Show on Earth." And from the looks of it, he may be right.

The equipment specs are impressive, and the photographs even more so. Link -via Unique Daily and Oh Gizmo!

The object of the game is to cover the red spot completely with five of the gray spots. Very difficult. I’ve seen this game in way back in my childhood (not online, of course), but I still don’t know the trick to it. Link -via Dump Trumpet

Illustrator Steve Brodner is sketching the candidates in on ongoing series of animations for The New Yorker called The Naked Campaign. There are eleven videos so far. I especially enjoyed Odd Couples, featuring Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama as entertainment icons. His latest is Mad World, where he gives the candidates tattoos of the states they’ve won. http://www.newyorker.com/online/nakedcampaign/videos -via Metafilter

Planetgreen has a list of 14 things you can do with “orphaned” socks, i.e. socks that have no mate. Many of these ideas have links to instructions, such as these puppets from Treehugger. But be warned: if my experience is any indication, doing any of these things will cause the sock’s mate to finally show up. Link -via Lifehacker

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It’s a shot-by-shot Lego recreation of the Dark Knight trailer! Keshen must’ve started working on this the minute it was first shown in theaters. -via Viral Video Chart

io9 has taken the standard self-improvement list and turned it on its ear, listing the success secrets of leaders from science fiction. My favorite:

5. Just because you have a crappy ship doesn't mean you're a loser. Everyone knows that Han Solo, captain of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars, is piloting a souped-up bucket. And yet his seemingly-crappy ship is probably the very best thing for helping out a group of covert resistance fighters like Obi Wan and Luke. Plus, he knows his ship so well that he can totally slam those Stormtroopers in their McFighters. Lesson learned? Every crappy PC is a lean, mean Linux box waiting to be born. Oh, and in case that didn't make sense: It's not the tools; it's what you do with them.

Link -via Geek Like Me