Datamancer was commissioned to build a computer keyboard for some friends who are Scrabble fans. Most of the keys are actual Scrabble tiles, and the ones that had to be custom-made look just like the real thing. Link -via Gizmodo

Marko Calasan of Skopje, Macedonia is the world's youngest certified computer system administrator at the age of eight. He could get a high-paying job, but he hasn't yet completed third grade!

Marko learnt to read and write at the age of 2 and started working on computers immediately. The news of his extraordinary achievement turned him into a local celebrity and he has even had an audience with the Macedonian Prime Minister, Nikola Gruevski, who presented him with an IT lab with 15 computers to practise on.

His parents, who are IT experts and run a computer school for children, are considering sending Marko abroad to a specialised institute of learning for gifted children, as none exists in Macedonia.

Marko passed Microsoft's tests for IT professionals. He says he wants to create a new operational system for computers ...when he grows up. Link -via Arbroath

(image credit: Bojan Pancevski)

(YouTube link)

Directed by Michelle Lehman, last year's Tropfest Australia winning film, Marry Me, tells a little love story about "a little girl who likes a little boy and a little boy who likes his BMX bike". The film was inspired by a true story when director, Michelle, at 5 years of age, would chase Jason Mahooney around the school in a pretend wedding dress (her mother's nightie).

You go, girl! -via I Am Bored

This Hummer H3 is built from $35,000 in losing lottery tickets. No sheet metal here, folks. The piece is by Brooklyn-based artists Adam Eckstrom and Lauren Was and it's entitled Ghost of a Dream. The tickets came from local bodegas, where they were discarded by unlucky patrons.

See more pictures at Jalopnik. Link -via Unique Daily

Truck driver Joe Mansheim of Minnesota has an unusual assistant: his duck! Mansheim raised Frank from a duckling and now the duck accompanies him every day at work.

Joe and Frank chat often on the road. Joe complains about the traffic; Frank quacks. And driver and duck go about their business delivering construction materials throughout the Twin Cities for Elite Transportation Systems.

"Pretty good looking site we helped build there," Joe says proudly to Frank as they descend into the Mississippi River valley with a load of steel for the new I-35W bridge. "We did a good job Frankie."

To many of the construction workers he encounters in his deliveries, Joe is now known as the "duck man."

The title suits him just fine.

"I go to these construction sites and you always see everybody smile when they see him," Joe says.

Link to story. http://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/weird/Trucking_Duck_All__National_.html to video.

Dave and Jenny in Delhi, India found that there are still artists who paint Bollywood cinema posters by hand. They sought out an artist to paint a design for their personalized Christmas cards. What they got was a six-foot poster detailing their Indian adventures! Read the story of how it came about. Contact information for the artist is included, in case you'd like one of your own. Link -Thanks, Dave Prager!

This Russian mashup entitled Embyo follows the development of a baby inside the womb, interspersed with TV and film clips showing the history of mankind. Link -Thanks, AJ!

In the style of Mad Libs, just plug in some words and this generator will create a speech for Tuesday's inauguration. I would post the hilarious speech I generated, but that would give too much of the fun away! Link -Thanks, Kate!

Legoland in Carlsbad, California has a new display in honor of the presidential inauguration Tuesday. The park has modified its US Capitol model to portray Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, president Bush, Dick Cheney, Bill Clinton, Oprah Winfrey, and the other dignitaries who will be present as Obama takes the oath of office, as well as the crowd! In addition to the swearing-in ceremony, see Aretha Franklin ready to entertain and the presidential motorcade waiting to join the inaugural parade. The display opens to the public today. Pictured is a detail showing George H.W. Bush nodding off. SF Weekly has a slide show featuring many other details. Link -Thanks, Janine Kahn!

Also: Click on the images in this post from one of the creators to get a sense of the scale and intricacy of the display.

Gregory Warner took his accordion to Afghanistan hoping to make friends. The reception he received was not at all as he expected. He found himself compared to an Afghan pop star from 30 years ago! Link -Thanks, Jessica Frank!

To paraphrase Animal Farm, "some fats are more equal than others".

While putting on weight in general can have negative effects on your health, abdominal weight gain (visceral fat) is particularly unhealthy. Since visceral fat is buried deep in your abdomen, it may seem like a difficult target for spot reduction. But this fat is actually quite sensitive to exercise and calorie reduction.

In addition to diet and exercise for reducing overall fat, eMedExpert Blog has five tips for reducing belly fat in particular. Link -Thanks, Karen!

(Vimeo link)

My friend Amanda had never seen a whole Star Wars film. When I asked her if she wanted to watch the original trilogy she said that she would, but that she already knew what happens. So I took out my voice recorder and asked her to start from the top.

Created by Joe Nicolosi. -via Boing Boing

A UK study finds that people who drink seven or more cups of instant coffee a day are three times more likely to experience hallucinations than people who drank just one cup.

A Durham University team questioned 200 students about their caffeine intake, the journal Personality and Individual Differences reported.

However, academics say the findings do not prove a "causal link".

They also stress that experiencing hallucinations is not a definite sign of mental illness and that about 3% of people regularly hear voices.

"This is the first step toward looking at the wider factors associated with hallucinations," said psychology PhD student Simon Jones, who led the study.

Could it be that anyone who drinks seven cups of instant coffee is already a little crazy? If you like coffee that much, invest in a real brewing machine! Link -Thanks, Jee!

The new presidential limousine is officially called Cadillac One, but everyone already knows it as the Obamamobile. It was built by General Motors.

The company refuses to give precise details of how it will perform its primary purpose - protecting the president.

But bulletproof glass and armourplatingare standard throughout and the car is hermetically-sealed to withstand chemical weapons.

As with previous presidential limos it is packed with electronic communication systems to allow Mr Obama to keep in contact with the outside world.

Cadillac One will debut at the inaugural parade on Tuesday. Link -via the Presurfer

The History Bluff has a clue in the title of the site: it's all made up! The tagline is "Making a mess of history." Here's a sample story:

Few heroes are as legendary as crossbowman William Tell of Switzerland who is said to have shot an apple off of his son’s head. The History Bluff tells the forgotten tale of William Tell and his other son on that fateful day.

In 1307 William Tell disrespected Hermann Gessler, the ruler of Tell’s province, by refusing to bow to him. As punishment Gessler arrested Tell and his two boys, Walter and Adam, and placed an apple on each of the boys’ heads; Gessler then told William Tell to shoot the apples.

Tell first took aim at the apple on Walter’s head, released, and breathed a sigh of relief when the bolt from his crossbow sliced the apple right through the middle. Confidently, the crossbowman took aim and shot at the apple on Adam’s head, but watched in horror as the bolt fatally struck his son in the larynx, which as a tribute, is now known as Adam’s Apple.

Adam was fatally struck in the larynx, ending all hope of a music career and/or life.

William Tell and his son Walter were later released from custody, but William could not get over the death of Adam. Many years later in 1354 a villager saw Tell jump into a lake with two large stones tied to his left ankle. Tell’s body was found two days later.

Read more preposterous stories you can easily pass along to unwitting friends. Link -Thanks, Dave Newell!