• Tagged art, bizarre, geeky, graffiti, holiday, Linus Torvalds, Linux, Linux mascot, Linux penguin mascot, penguin, Tux

What can you get ‘for free’ to virtually wish Linux lovers a happy holiday season? How about a hat tip to Tux, the cute little iconic penguin mascot representing free and open source Linux? This Tux probably is not your grandma’s penguin. Here’s Tux as seen traveling and bashing shells ‘in the wild.’ Cats and dogs love Tux. In fact, there are tributes to the Tux mascot via food, toys, and even from a few future Linux hacker babies. Tux inspires art like digital wallpapers as well as Tux graffiti. We’ll toss in a few interesting Linux facts and hopefully dear Linux lovers, you will at least smile and remember that it’s the thought that counts? Smile and have a great day! [69 Pics]

• Tagged Banksy, graffiti, street art

After watching Banksy’s “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” followed by Banksy’s new TV show “The Antics Roadshow” which focuses on the history of public pranks and various forms of anarchy, we wanted to pay tribute to Banksy. Much like the sand demon competition that is only meant to be temporary, too often Banksy’s street graffiti lives a very short time before it’s removed. Pity that, cause we think Banksy is talented, funny, and can make some very loud statements with his art with which we agree. Although we know that any talk of graffiti seems to ignite a war of opinions ranging from “it’s art” to “it’s vandalism,” the rebel spirit of raging against the machine appeals to some of us. The artist himself said, “Is graffiti art or vandalism? That word has a lot of negative connotations and it alienates people, so no, I don’t like to use the word ‘art’ at all.” Here are some of Banksy’s graffiti that speaks loudly to us, mixed in with quotes gathered from around the web that are purportedly pure Banksy. [45 Photos]

• Tagged abandoned, abandoned amusement park, abandoned New Orleans, Big Easy, defunct amusement park, disaster, graffiti, jazzland, Katrina, New Orleans, photos, pics, pictures, places, Six Flags New Orleans, travel, urban exploration

Like little kids, we all experience a happy rush, a delighted thrill, when going to play at an amusement park. Yet when an amusement park is abandoned and an eerie silence settles over the rusty and crusty decay, the setting seems to twist the atmosphere of enthusiastic excitement into a suffocating blanket of dread. The place takes on creepy vibes and freaks people out. In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans and ripped the heart of fun and the amusement out of this park. Almost six years later, Six Flags in New Orleans is unnaturally silent, no lines and no laughter. This 140-acre surreal setting has morphed into a nightmarish land of twisted dreams. It seems as if the post-apocalyptic atmosphere might be the perfect place to make a zombie movie. As if lured by a distant echo of scattered screams and the ghost of good times, urban explorers venture out of curiosity and capture the moments and crumbling scenes. They share with us in a virtual urban exploration tour of this creepy abandoned amusement park – Six Flags New Orleans. Most of these photos are very recent, as in taken during 2011, nearly six years after Hurricane Katrina tried to swallow New Orleans and Six Flags. A special thank you to the urban explorers who risked arrest, and possible zombie attack, to go in and shoot these current shots of Six Flags, and then gave us permission to use their copyright photos. This is about twice the size of a normal post here, so we hope you really enjoy this virtual urban exploration tour into the defunct amusement park Six Flags New Orleans. [75 Photos]