I have only one question for you: You gonna light that pipe?

Design Observer has a slideshow of Tom Manning’s spam cartoons, short strips inspired by (and consisting of) the text from spam mail. Turning spam subject lines into comic strips is nothing new, but Manning’s art is the only I know that uses the whole shebang. The work is some beautiful stuff.

Joseph Sullivan of The Book Design Review has released his 2007 list of favorite book covers. There is still time in 2007 for new releases, but even if one or two more greatly designed books are released, the list remains a nice bit of eye-candy. For even more book cover design, see Fwis.com’s frequently updated Covers

I will admit that xkcd can sometimes be…a bit much, and the latest strip is definitely one of those times, but may I present to you 1337: Part 3, in which we learn of how super-hacker Elaine “helped start a movement among teen girls, a culture of self-taught female programmers and musicians, coding by day and rocking out by night — Riot Prrl.”

Italian Spiderman - “Shut your mouth, pussycat, and find me a macchiato, pronto.”

Somehow, even with all the publicity surrounding how frequently employers use Facebook to check on employees, some people still post Halloween party pictures after requesting off from work for a family emergency. (Cool wand.)

Oobject.com is like a “Billboard charts for gadgets”, with top whatever (10, 15, 20, 22, etc.) lists of a variety of different gadgets. Sometimes mundane (mobile media devices), sometimes stunning (*cough* ray guns), but always fun (time machines).

If you find yourself alone in the woods with nothing but an onion, some Gatorade, and a dead iPod, don’t worry. Household Hacker has you covered in this week’s episode: How to charge an iPod using electrolytes. Then again, maybe you’re more interested in creating a speaker for under $1 out of a paper plate, aluminum foil, and a penny.

See For Yourself is an online gallery of perceptual illusions provided by Duke University’s Purves Lab. The site is so well done that, honestly, it makes me want to do research there.