Aug. 2, 2002

Ghost Study
Ever pick up your developed film from the store and notice unidentifiable blobs of light captured on the prints? Maybe it's not a glitch in your camera after all, but a possible ghost sighting. This site reviews various photos and video clips to detect paranormal activity in the background. Look at photos with white circles, flashes of light and translucent halos to determine for yourself if it's a ghost or simply bad photography.

Shrinky Dink Do!
I used to spend hours as a kid drawing and coloring in Shrinky Dink creations. I would color in my designs on this magical plastic, then pop it in the oven (with help from Mom) and watch my art curl, melt and shrink into a hard plastic I could then turn into jewelry or an ornament. This site takes the nostalgia for Shrinky Dinks one step further and shows you how to make your own hard plastic modern art. Now I finally have a reason again to use my oven for something other than warming up frozen pizzas.

How Much Is Inside?
Do you lay awake at night wondering how much fizz is inside a bottle of Coke or how much toothpaste is there in a tube? Okay, maybe that's just me, and Rob at Cockeyed.com. Rob helps me rest easy because he does all the work in finding out how much is inside everything from a can of whipped cream to a tube of lipstick. Rob also documents each experiment with photos and funny commentary. The shaving cream research photos had me giggling for a good ten minutes - and that's a long time to be snickering.

Geocaching
Do you have a GPS device collecting dust in the garage? Or maybe you use your GPS to find restaurants and to prevent getting lost near stadiums. Well, now there's an even better reason to use a GPS device - for going on treasure hunts! Geocaching is a big hunt using set coordinates and some brainpower. If you're smart and fast enough to get to the hidden treasure first, you could end up with some cool gear. Just remember to leave something for the next person who shows up to the stash.

Cut and Paste: A History of Photomontage
I'm a big fan of any kind of art that recycles and manipulates photographs, clip art, sketches and mixed media. On this site, read the history behind the art of photomontage from the Victorian era to present day. Get the low down on how the Dada and the Pop Art movements influenced collage art. Or simply browse through all the photos for a bit of eye candy wonderment.

Aquarium Toilet
If I had an extra $1,500 lying around, I'd happily spend it on this classy commode. Granted, I think boys would get a better use of this toilet since us girls never actually get a chance to stare at the toilet as we're using it. But you have to admit having LIVE fish in a toilet has a sick ironic twist.

Plustech Walking Technology
Construction vehicles always seem a bit boring to me. Their bright orange and yellow colors give me headaches as I sit in traffic jams, listening to them beep as they slowly backup on the pavement. However, if one of these Plustech walking machines stopped traffic to scamper across the road like a huge robotic insect, that would be another thing altogether. I might even trade my car to commute in one of these. Be sure to watch the video clips to see this thing in action.

Furry Morphs and Portraits
If you fantasize about your cat wearing a bikini, or if you like hairy women with catlike faces, you'll be thrilled with this site. Of course, Photoshop is to blame for many of these portraits, but I have to admit this site grows on me. My favorite portrait is the rather convincing werewolf model.

Action Squad
Ever had the urge to go spelunking in an old brewery cave? Like the idea of sneaking into old factories in the middle of the night? Perhaps you should join the Action Squad. These urban adventurers seek excitement by running across rooftops, poking around abandoned buildings and crawling through all kinds of tunnels. The site explains why this group from Minneapolis decided to spend their nights exploring parts of the city off the normal tourist radar. Check out the photo gallery and descriptions of past missions to see where the Action Squad has struck.