Remember when video games didn't have advertisements? Well, The Sims Online goes beyond simple product placement. Sims players can open their own McDonald's kiosks and consume the virtual food to improve their game stats. Alternet has an article on how to protest the fastfood giant in the Sim universe. I wonder how many virtual picketers would ever protest something in real life? Oh and while I'm on the subject of The Sims, I should mention the crazy Sim Survivors web site.

Michigan Studies Weekly recently reported that whales migrate to Lake Michigan. The newspaper, published as a teaching aid, later retracted the story explaining that the false information came from a different Internet site intended as a joke. On a related note, here are ten tips for making your internet hoax more believable.

Do you doodle? Check out the doodle of the day every day.

Alien creature, fetus, animal, or hoax? My bet is on hoax. Oh, wait. It's already been determined to be a Chilean animal. Well, that mystery was fun while it lasted.

These are some of the scariest Halloween masks I've seen in a while (You can click the images for full-size, printer-friendly color masks). Also, these classic costumes are kind of scary too. I think Casper and Witchiepoo were two of my first costumes.

I might have donated to this worthy cause, but it seems they've already reached their goal.

Yeah, I haven't written in my blog in a while, but I thought I'd start off this week on a positive note. Here is A Collection of End-Of-World Scenario's.

NewZoid describes itself as "The World's #1 Source of False Headlines." Two of my favorite headlines for today are "New Anthrax Vaccine Moved To Protect Keith Richards' Privacy" and "Drug Companies Charged With Murder In Murder Trial."

What lies beneath the keys on your keyboard? Well, it's probably pretty gross. I still don't understand how a rat can get stuck in a hard drive though.

I have nothing against video games like this, but when will a video game company cater to the desires of female gamers like me?

Finally, the origins of the smiley have been unearthed. :-)

Where were all the vibrating toys when I was a kid?

Greece has banned all electronic games. And they're not just talking about the violent ones. The ban even applies to chess and the standard games shipped with Windows. Offenders will face fines of 5,000 to 75,000 euros (about $4,980 to $74,650) and imprisonment of one to 12 months.

Check out the Top 500 web sites. Nope, The Daily Dork Monger is not on the list, but Neopets is!

Will a RoboShop be coming to a neighborhood near you any time soon?

Yay! I think I'll celebrate National Slackerday today even though I'm American.

I'm glad I was nowhere near Santana Row today. The new upscale housing and shopping center is on fire. So far, there have been no injuries reported.

A mushroom hunter (snicker) stumbled upon 101 garden gnomes in a forest in southwest France. The police are baffled.

This is just creepy. Airport security screeners may soon try to read the minds of travelers to identify terrorists. I guess I have one more reason not to fly. Also, maybe I should invest in this company.

Oh, I am so shocked! The romance that bloomed on the ABC reality show "The Bachelor" seems to be going sour.