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A commenter on our Blockland post wanted to know where to get LegoCad, I’m pretty sure LDraw is what he’s looking for and it’s found here. LDraw is an open standard for making virtual LEGO models. The cool thing about this is, as LEGO comes out with new parts, LDraw supports them. Mac and PC guides here. And speaking of LEGOs. Check out the handmade LEGO designs from jewelry designer, Jacqueline Sanchez on design*sponge, She makes rings, cufflinks and more from LEGO/ Of course, I’ll need to make a version that also works with the LEGO robots somehow…

Ladyada’s site has tons of amazing projects. But perhaps the most useful section of all for the Maker set is the procurement resource page. If you’re looking for parts on the cheap, free or just a one-stop-shop, click on through.

Make Photo pool Flickr member Mariusm posted…”I followed Geoff Johnson’s instructions and discovered that the back of $5 and $20 bills (but not $1) has an interesting security feature…” Check out the weird photo!

I think this is officially my favorite SETI-fiction story. It’s called “They’re Made Out Of Meat” from “Bears Discover Fire and Other Stories” by Terry Bisson.

Today on the Screensavers they had some cool user created images from Blockland, a free multiplayer application where you build LEGO like structures, people, things…I’m going to download this, build some stuff and post up the images in the Make pool. The site says there’s a retail version coming soon too, congrats!

We love the Atari 2600 here at Make, a lot. Here’s a cool story about a rumored port of the game Zoo Keeper- the game itself has not materialized, but the programmer who worked on the audio saved his source code. That source has now been turned in to a binary that you can play on just about any Atari 2600 emulator. More information and download here…

This fruit looks like an Apple, but tastes like a grape. It’s called a Grapple. At first I thought it might be some genetically altered fruit (something I’d want to try, ya know, for science). But upon further inspection, it’s actually a Washington Extra Fancy Fuji Apple dipped in concentrated Concord grape flavor and water for a few days. So there it is, you can make a Grapple at home. I’m now thinking I could also make my own fruit mash-ups with other juices. Crapple…