There's a human-sized hamster wheel for fitness, grain pellets for food, hay for sleeping in and hamster hats to help you get into the role, all for the relatively affordable rate of 99 euros per night ($147)—although that price is expected to go up shortly as un-hamster-y amenities like wireless internet and TVs are added. Get a closer look after the jump, where, if you understand French, Tabary (pictured) discusses very rationally, practically intellectually, why he and Falquerho created the Hamster Villa. (io9)

Of course, this is a great law for cyclists who ride outside the city, but let's be realistic: no driver's gonna give up 3 feet of space on a New York City street, not to a car, not to a bicycle, not even to their own mother. Really, we just need more bike lanes (to be employed in the correct direction, of course). Still, it's nice to know that people with actual political power give a damn about cyclists at all.

For now it's just a very, very cool prototype, but it seems safe to say that this will be the most popular holiday gift next year. Between this and the rock-throwing version of Space Invaders, I wonder what classic arcade game will be remade into a mildly fitness-oriented interactive experience. Maybe a version of Pacman where you actually have to run away from ghosts down long hallways? It would look something like this. Check out a brief demonstration of Dance Dance Tetris after the jump. (NOTCOT)

• GAA!

Baseball, which was once berry berry good to Sosa, is now rather reluctant to be associated with him, on account of the steroids and everything, which we guess now gives the slugger of 609 major league home runs ample spare time in which to rub lightening cream on his face and frighten little children with his cadaverous visage.

The only explanation we can come up with for this behavior, aside from we guess the unfortunately pervasive ingrained feelings of inferiority held by some darkly-complected people, is that he thinks that the reason no team wants to sign him these days is because baseball has reinstituted the color barrier, and he hopes to pass as white, just like free-swinging African-American power hitters of old, like Babe Ruth.

Artist and historian Zach van Schouwen has assembled a history of the block of Eldridge Street between Stanton and Rivington, starting back in 1795 when it was Delancey Farm and leading all the way up to the buildings that currently occupy the street. There's a more comprehensive version on his website that lets you look up information about all the different buildings that have sprouted and been leveled over the centuries, or there's the 12-second version—don't miss the part in the mid-80s when nearly the whole block was leveled. (Curbed)

Yup, it's a golden retriever dancing the mambo in full costume, live on Univision (baile perro!). I am now doomed to the dog beat. There could be worse things, I guess. Thanks (I guess) to my beloved wife for the tip. (And if you've already seen this three times, watch it once more. Just. Do it.)

After getting lost during an ambush in Afghanistan 14 months ago, bomb-sniffing black lab Sabi was found under the care of an Afghan villager. Upon being returned to her Australian unit, Sabi was granted the traditional Aussie hero's right of being able to lick the face of the sitting Prime Minister, in this case Kevin Rudd, who, going out on a political limb, claimed Sabi a "nice pooch." As ever, in stories like this, reporters are suspicious:

Exactly where Sabi has been or what happened to her during the past 14 months will probably never be known...

Sabi, traitor to the cause?

Ok, enough with the Veterans Day stuff... I know, I know... I agree with Howard Zinn when he says:

Veterans Day, instead of an occasion for denouncing war, has become an occasion for bringing out the flags, the uniforms, the martial music, the patriotic speeches... As a combat veteran myself, of a 'good war,' against fascism, I do not want the recognition of my service to be used as a glorification of war. Veterans Day should be an occasion for a national vow: No more war victims on the other side; no more war veterans on our side.

BUT. The Awl pointed our way to this Mental Floss video compilation of dogs greeting their people after war, so we thought we'd try to make you cry; here's just one, by way of sample:

It's just like that scene in The Odyssey when the only one who recognizes Odysseus when he returns home from his journeys is his beloved dog, Argos. Right?

The added cost is a lot to swallow, especially considering the state just voted to raise license and registration fees by 25% in September. A county clerk from upstate has started an online petition to fight the new charges. Currently 57,000 people have signed.

The worst part of this whole thing, aside from the fact that the plates are fucking hideous looking, is the way the state is trying to justify it.

Periodic re-issuance of vehicle plates is important for overall highway safety, law enforcement and the general integrity of the vehicle registration system. The visibility of reflective vehicle plates decreases with time. The legibility and reflectivity of the current Empire plates, introduced in 2001, was only guaranteed for a maximum of five years. The current plates will have been in use for 10 or 11 years when they are replaced by the new Empire Gold plates. Vehicle plate re-issuance also helps to ensure compliance with motor vehicle registration and insurance requirements.

Basically, I have to pay $25 to replace my plates, which happen to be shiny and new, mind you, and which I paid for eight months ago, so that the police can catch bad guys. Got it.

This warms my heart, in an eco-conscious kind of way... Columbia students recently organized a day of awareness around the safe number of carbon units per million in the atmosphere (or something, shit, I don't know, go here to learn more). Apparently the safe number is 350 and we're sitting at 390, so we're all going to die. Which sucks, because I was feeling pretty good today.

Filmed and edited by Emmanuel Cruz.

Anticipating local opposition, Bernstein is sweetening the deal (currently budgeted at $623 million) by offering Greenpointers their own little waterfront Disneyland as part of the development. According to The BP:

Bernstein said his project would include thousands of square feet of parkland, an amphitheater, a beach, sand dunes, wetlands, two piers for three historical schooners (for educational purposes), and ferry service.