The Da Vinci Apartment
If Dan Brown, author of The Da Vinci Code were to design his dream apartment, this would be it. At first glance this New York City luxury pad is impressive enough, what with its Central Park views and custom made rare wood furniture.
But concealed within all the pricey decor is a smorgasboard of games,
hidden treasures, encrypted messages and more. Even cooler, the
apartment comes with its own book and soundtrack, all serving the
purpose of solving a series of puzzles of increasing complexity. This
quote from the New York Times Article gives some idea of the madness
involved:
In any case, the finale involved, in part, removing
decorative door knockers from two hallway panels, which fit together to
make a crank, which in turn opened hidden panels in a credenza in the
dining room, which displayed multiple keys and keyholes, which, when
the correct ones were used, yielded drawers containing acrylic letters
and a table-size cloth imprinted with the beginnings of a crossword
puzzle, the answers to which led to one of the rectangular panels
lining the tiny den, which concealed a chamfered magnetic cube, which
could be used to open the 24 remaining panels, revealing, in large
type, the poem written by Mr. Klinsky. (There is other stuff in there,
too, but a more detailed explanation might drive a reader crazy.)
Link: Mystery on Fifth Avenue
Beware of Facebook Applications
It seems like every time you blink there are a thousand new Facebook applications waiting just around the corner. While most may be perfectly harmless albeit incredibly lame, stupid or just downright annoying, it is relatively easy for someone to setup an application that will harvest Facebook members’ personal information.
BBC NEWS | Identity ‘at risk’ on Facebook.
The True Face of Da Vinci?

Has the true face of Leonardo Da Vinci been revealed? Dutch illustrator and activist Siegfried Woldhek presents a compelling case at TEDTalks of what the famed artist really looked like. Woldhek, helped by his 30 years experience in drawing faces, used image-analysis techniques to reveal what he claims is the definitive face of the Italian master.
Via TED
