Tour de France trivia from Team CSC: The leader’s yellow jersey color was chosen in 1917 because it was the color of the newsprint used by race sponsor newspaper, L’Auto (now L’Equipe). Those stuffed lions the winners receive on the podium are from sponsor Crédit Lyonnaise. The podium itself is mobile and travels with the tour inside a large truck. A publicity caravan leaves two hours before the stage begins and tosses souvenirs to waiting fans.

Have you always coveted the soapstone counter and Viking appliances that Alton Brown cooks on? The house that Good Eats season 5 and on was filmed in is listed for sale on eBay. The buyer also wins a dinner for 8 prepared by Alton Brown. The listing includes the address (791 Moores Mill Road, Atlanta), so if you’re the lucky new resident, you may get some hard core fans peering at your lovely home. (I’m happy to expunge this address if you’re the new owner!) (via Good Eats Fan Page)

The 256MB Cat Bar USB drive meows when you plug it in. Unfortunately you need to install software to make this happen so it’s really your computer that’s meowing. But it’s cute nevertheless. (via Engadget)

“Ducks who never get to swim.” After an uncomfortable confrontation with the director of Viva! USA at a stockholder’s meeting, John Mackey, CEO of Whole Foods Market, set out to learn more about factory farming. The unexpected result, Mackey not only became a vegan (he was a vegetarian; he does eat eggs from his own farm) but also promised to use Whole Foods’ influence to improve the living conditions of farm animals. Their duck supplier, Grimaud Farms, is now creating swimming areas for its ducks. Whole Foods’ success has made Mackey a “reluctant celebrity CEO” with profiles in prominent journals, such as this one in Fast Company. The company’s unorthodox, open book, democratic management policies (pay rates revealed, employee voting on new hires and to pick their health plan) have surprisingly scaled to 26,000 employees. Whole Foods’ influence over major food suppliers grows with its success. Dole now carries organic bananas. What started with the ducks will soon spread to pigs and beyond. (via Saute Wednesday)

The Tour de France pedals off on Saturday and the Seattle Times reveals that Lance Armstrong’s entourage descended on the wind tunnel at the University of Washington this past December to test out equipment. Typically host to Boeing aircraft, the tunnel this time blew past Nike’s Swift Spin Suit, a Trek bicycle, and Giro helmet. Improvements to the braking system and handlebars were made and Nike enhanced their special mesh suit. Over on the other coast, the Cervélo team used a wind tunnel at MIT to improve the aerodynamics and usage of their time trial bikes.

Chiquita wants to be “the Starbucks of the produce world” with their flavored banana innovation. The Chiquita CEO has told AP that they are working on bananas “flavored with the hint of another fruit.” They hope to increase the popularity of bananas and convince people to pay more for these special flavors. If they really want to go the Starbucks route, though, shouldn’t they be creating a coffee flavored banana? Maybe they are! I like bananas the way they taste now…just like bananas. However, thinking over the various mixed juice drinks that are on the market, perhaps a mango or pineapple banana would be an interesting twist.

The new $50 bill design uses blue and red background colors, though it is predominantly still the black and green bill we are accustomed to. I don’t think I’ve ever used a $50 so this redesign is unlikely to cross my path. The bill has similar features to the new $20 such as a security thread and color-shifting ink. It will be released on September 28.

A Reuters article on a shortage of the mineral zircon predicts that cubic zirconium jewelry will go up in price because prices for zirconium have soared. It seemed odd to me since I hadn’t given much thought to what raw materials are used to create cubic zirconium; I figured it was something plentiful and cheap. Ironically you can make diamonds out of all sorts of plentiful carbon-containing raw materials, though the process is much more expensive. Zirconium pricing is unlikely to ever surpass the controlled rarity of real diamonds, but synthetics are in the realm of possibility.

This week’s episode of PBS’ History Detectives has a fun segment on the history behind the board game Monopoly. Although official company history only mentions Charles Darrow as the inventor, Monopoly was based on earlier games, most notably The Landlord’s Game invented by Lizzie J. Magie, a Virginia woman who received a patent for the game in 1904. The earliest Monopoly boards list both her patent and Darrow’s. Magie’s game was meant to teach the economic philosophy of Henry George, proponent of the “single tax.” It evolved as it spread, ending up markedly different in its goals. Parker Brothers bought the rights to Lizzie Magie’s patent for $500.

Archie McPhee has opened up its new “More Archie McPhee” store with room for furniture, not-your-usual party rentals, life-sized figurines, and other quirky decorative items. They’re leasing the space, hoping one day to combine everything into one large building. The additional 6,500 square feet of novelties opens on Friday.