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.

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.

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!

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.

Friday Drive In: Choose your own adventure!

I was totally addicted to the Choose Your Own Adventure books when I was a kid: Do you want to open the gate and go into the graveyard or do you want to turn around and go back into the haunted mansion? 

So, I was excited to find this choose your own adventure video series on youtube. Below is the first installation but you really should go to the youtube page to get the full experience.  

Dr. Feel Goode: Virtual Therapy

Starz is promoting their show, Head Case (Wednesdays, 10 p.m. ET/PT) with hilarious virtual therapy sessions.

Dr. Elizabeth Goode, therapist to the stars, is more than happy to tell you what is wrong with you and your twisted psyche. Just go through the interactive flash video and answer her questions and she'll give you the diagnosis. You can come back for more sessions and they seem to be different every time (I've done it a handful of times and never had the same experience twice). But be careful: you may not be ready to hear the disturbing truth about your troubled mind.