Carve a Virtual Jack o' Lantern

Hey Halloweenies. Just two days to the spookiest holiday of the year. Get into the spirit with a little online pumpkin carving!

Online Magnetic Poetry

Today we have another great recommendation from our long-time reader and occasional west-coast correspondent, Kate F.

This is one of those things that falls under the category simple but addictive (we should probably have a tag for that huh?). Magnetic poetry is awesome, so why not do it online. And you're not the only one moving things around: you don't have your own individual page, so any changes any one else in the world makes will show up on your page too. So maybe you'll start a poem and someone in Korea will finish it. Pretty cool.

Curveball

Curveball is basically just a 3D version of Pong. But like many of the simplest games it's highly addictive.

Odosketch

Dust off your beret and get to work. Odosketch is an online tool that let's you create very natural sketches that look like they were done with colored pencils. It tracks your movements as you draw, so when you're done you can watch a video of your sketch being created.

Some of the featured sketches are truly amazing. Especially as someone who isn't an artist it's fascinating to me to watch the process people use to create these amazing images.

Incredibox

For you long time readers you may remember the signing horses from way back in June 2007. It's remained one of my favorite posts and today's site is a similar but more developed concept.

On Incredibox mix a song by selecting up to 7 loops from the 14 available. When you've used a certain combination of loops it opens "bonuses" which are basically musical break downs with an accompanying visual.

Keep in mind when playing with Incredibox: the order in which you select loops effects how the loops that come after it sound. To get rid of a loop just tap on the guy performing it.

Design Your Own Domestic Reform

Greetings Web Diversions fans, from your Los Angeles correspondent. Web D headquarters is still settling in after the relocation but we feel we've made you wait long enough . We hope to bring you more regular posts from here out.

In preparation for Barak Obama's upcoming relocation you can deck out his new digs in fine Ikea style.

Ikea's Embrace Change '09 contest supplies you with a Flash version of the oval office and an assortment of tables, chairs, and even an Obama family dog. Design your room and then send your suggestions to your friends, enter it in Ikea's room design contest, or send it to the White House directly from the site.

New Years Cam

I promise, Web Diversions isn't dead! It's just really, really busy! But I have to give you guys a little something so you don't forget about me completely.

Check out all the News Years Eve action all over the globe with Earthcam's New Years Cams. Not too shabby.

Free. Will. Power.: Cool videos and T-shirt Design Contest

Naral Pro-Choice America has launched a new website, Free.Will.Power, to get younger audiences involved in the issue of reproductive rights. It features 3 videos of spoken-word artists with awesome soundtracks by DJ Spooky. Here's one that launched today:



(Side note: as of today, YouTube now supports larger video dimensions. Jams.)

They also have a t-shirt design contest. The winner gets $1,000 and their design will become the official T-shirt of Free.Will.Power. Comment with a link to your entry so we'll know to vote for you!

Design Your Own Tequila Bottle

1800 Tequila is letting you design your own bottle. Just upload your artwork and rotate, re-size, and position it to fit on a bottle. Once you're done you're automatically entered into a contest to win $10,000 and appear in an ad campaign. Also, if you're feeling flush, you can pay $475.00 (not including shipping) to have the bottle you designed created and shipped to you. This is especially silly when you see the tiny, tiny print on the bottom of the buy page that says "For legal reasons, your custom bottle will not contain 1800 tequila". So $475.00 for an empty bottle? What a deal...

And coming soon, the website will let you design your own "kicks". Web Diversions will keep you posted...

Palin as President

What's this? It's Friday: where's the Friday Drive-In? This isn't a video?

I know, I know. But this one is so good I couldn't keep it under my hat until Monday.

Palin as President is an easter-egg filled treasure hunt of comedy. Click around the image of Plain in the Oval Office to find the funnies. The best part is the site will be updated everyday until November 4th. I've been tracking it for a couple days and it only gets funnier (more depressing?).

Animal Noises in Other Languages

Ever wonder what a Bee says in Italian? It sure ain't "buzz".

bzzzpeek let's you hear the animal noises, and a few vehicle noises, that people use in nine different countries. For example, in Italy dogs seem to make a sound much like a fire truck: wOwOwOw! While their fire trucks sound like they're Mork from Mork and Mindy: Nanu Nanu!

Name That Accent Game

Can You Guess Where My Accent is From is a fun little game/quiz. You watch clips of people reading part of a Rudyard Kipling poem and try to guess where they're from based on their accent. You may be surprised how hard it is. I was!

Car Racing Game

Obama Race For the White House Game

This game is a little outdated since it's Obama vs. Clinton rather than McCain (although it would be really easy for the game-makers to repurpose it if they wanted to). Still, it's incredibly fun.

Obama Race For the White House is sort of Obama snood (Snoodbama?); Shoot little balls from your cannon and knock them down by joining 3 of a kind. The different balls represent different, unspecified political promise: education, defense, religion, finance, and then, media, culture, and tech. Achieve goals in these areas in different parts of the nation and see how the election comes out.

New Building Game: Fantastic Contraption

If you liked Magic Pen (admit it, you did!) this game will similarly rock your adorable little socks (admit it, they are!) right off.

Like Magic Pen, Fantastic Contraption is a flash game where you create things in an attempt to get a ball into its goal. Instead of drawing though, you build machines with wheels and rods.

Report back and let me know what level you've reached!

Spicy Town

People seem to just love uploading pictures of their heads to things. Well here's another chance to see your face on a funny little digital body.

Spicy Town is mini (very, very mini) Second Life meets fighting game made by the folks at Slim Jim. You upload your head and the game generates an avatar for you, your "spicy side" (I was very impressed with the speed and ease of the uploading/avatar process. it takes about a minute or less). Then, now that you're all spicy, you can wander around in Spicy Town, chat with other people there, and try to find and collect beef jerky. 

Mainly though, Spicy Town is a fighting game. Challenge other people to real-time "Rumbles" and get down with your violent side. As you earn points in the game (by fighting and collecting Slim Jims) you get more "moves", like being able to throw fish at your opponent. 

So check it out. I'm "Nuts Ryan" by the way (you don't get to pick your own "spicy" name). If you see me, let's rumble!

Online Magic 8 Ball

Having trouble making a big decision? Why not put your faith in a cheap plastic ball filled with liquid? Better yet, put it in a digital rendering of a cheap plastic ball filled with liquid!

The online magic 8 ball is just what you need to decide on your next move. Will you enjoy it? My sources say yes.

Hillary Clinton vs. Barack Obama Fighting Game

Alright Web Diversions fans, here's your chance to get out your rage at the never-ending primaries with a little good old fashioned fighting game. Pick your candidate, Hillary or Obama, and then use all you've got to pummel your opponent.

Boohbah

File this one under WTF. In the great tradition of children's media being made by people on LSD (see H.R. Pufnstuf, Teletubbies, etc.), Boobah appears to be PBS's attempt to totally freak out small children. I guess these are supposed to be "games" although I think they're better classified as "nightmarish seizure inducers". What do you think?

Honda Problem Playground

I know. We've been bad. But, to make up to you, we're telling you about a website that has like 10 million things for you to do...

Besides its beautiful design, Honda Problem Playground is also lots of fun: go exploring and see if you can find:

1. The game where the sound of you blowing in your computer mic moves the clouds
2. The diesel-cleaning game
3. The Slider puzzle
4. A car whose only emission is steam

and more! Have fun.