Friday Links!

Here's an extraordinary tale about virtual communities, gaming, and obsession, and it's a fascinating story: Master of His Virtual Domain.

From Sirius, and this is fantastic: Crowdfunded Full-Size Lego Hot Rod Runs On Air.

From Steven Davis, and this is incredible: The Cubli: A Gravity-Defying Cube that Can Jump, Balance, and Walk.

From Jesse Leimkuehler, and this is quite the surprise: What if Bill Gates was your Secret Santa?

Here's an excellent article on the "moneyball" approach to baseball: A Decade After Moneyball, Have the A's Found a New Market Inefficiency?

From C. Lee, and this is a terrific read: The Rhyme of History: Lessons of the Great War

From The Edwin Garcia Links Machine, and this is outstanding, it's An Engineer's Guide to Cats 2.0 - The Sequel. Also, and this is amazing, it's Inscriptions Everywhere! Magical Medieval Crypt Holds 7 Male Mummies.

From Dave Hoekstra, and this is absolutely fantastic: Swearing, Scoring, And Fighting: Watch This Hockey Ref's Helmet Cam.

We're always light this week, so I'm adding a few links from one of my favorite daily sites: Boing Boing.
NY Times vocabulary quiz determines where you are from.
ATOMIC JOHN: A truck driver uncovers secrets about the first nuclear bombs
Forgotten history: When the squirrels came to town

Finally, and this is just insane, it's Trench-run in a wingsuit.