Captain Avatar to the Bridge, and Bring Your Sunglasses

Bombardier actually submitted this to us before the McQuarrie obituary, but it wasn't as time-sensitive so it got bumped.

Hey kids (and dads)! Now you can build your very own Gauss Rifle at home! They had me at "shatter-prone ceramic magnets."

Now via Balloon Juice comes word that the US Navy has begun testing a combat version.

It's only a matter of time:

And I Felt a Sense of Accomplishment After Edging My Lawn...

Via Lawyers, Guns and Money comes word of the completion of a Lego model of the Japanese battleship Yamato.

The project took over six years to complete; by contrast, the actual ship was built in just over four, although with slightly more labor involved.

Wow.