In Manhattan's Greenwich Village neighborhood sits Alamo, a giant cube sculpture by Tony Rosenthal which dates back to 1967. The artwork, a.ka. the Cube, lives not far from New York University, The New School, and few other landmarks. It's been in music videos by Cypress Hill and other groups and has been the subject of a few pranks, including one that turned it into a giant Rubik's Cube.

This morning, the latest stunt involving Alamo turned it into the Weighted Companion Cube from Valve's popular Portal games. Oversized swaths of fabric covered one of the city's most famous sculptures in the beloved inanimate object's signature hearts-and-squares. A note from the Caltech Prank Club claims responsibility in the distinctive language of Portal's Aperture Science corporation. Sadly, there wasn't any cake to celebrate the occasion.

The Cube has a sweater been turned into a Weighted Companion Cube* this morning [Welcome to the Funhouse]

This one's a bit of a stretch… but then, what am I talking about? It's never a stretch when it comes to Valve.

People are already parsing the video that the company showed at last weekend's Spike Video Game Awards show, in which the Portal 2 character Wheatley put in a humorous, short plea to the audience to A) give him the "Character of the Year" award and B) help him get home.

This being a Valve video, viewers are convinced that the video also contains clues to the studios inevitable (but maddeningly mysterious, eternally unannounced) follow-up to Half-Life 2. Found via Rock, Paper Shotgun, this 1/2-speed video helps to parse whatever clues there were in the 30-second video.

For starters, Wheatley ends his speech by saying "one, one, one," which of course adds up to… three. Also, the text in the video reads "Observation Satellite "Lanthanum," which (apparently) is Greek for "To lie hidden." It is also a medication for use helping those with kidney disorders, and is a chemical with the atomic number 57.

It could be a reference to just about anything, including Wheatley himself ("lying hidden"), but as RPS points out, the first letter of "Lanthanum" in Greek is indeed a Lambda, otherwise known as the symbol for Half-Life.

Hmm. Seems like a stretch to me, but then again, why the heck else would they choose to include a greek word beginning with "L" in their video? Oh, Valve. How you taunt us.

Source: Rock, Paper Shotgun

Good evening, Kotaku. I hope you weren't trying to get any sleep tonight.

This Garry's Mod masterpiece is a little bit Dead Space, a little bit Half-Life 2, and a whole lot of never going to sleep ever again.

It's the work of postal123 and craptasket. Thank them, if you must. Or blame them.

[thanks Moskeeto!]

Master craftsman Harrison Krix has built himself a replica of Gordon Freeman's Gravity Gun from Half-Life 2. It's really something.

Made internet famous by similar projects based on the weapons of series like Mass Effect and World of Warcraft, the gun has that post-apocalyptic finish you'd expect, along with some amazing lighting effects that bring the whole thing to life.

If you actually want to own it? It's being auctioned off at a Child's Play dinner in Seattle. Details on how you can take part (and more photos from Dan Almasy, who took all the snazzy pics) at the link below.

Gravity Gun for Child's Play [Volpin Props]
Dan Almasy's photostream [Flickr]

What happens when one of the world's best tower defense games meets one of gaming's most beloved power-mad robotic villains? Fans line up to pay $4.99 or 400 Microsoft points for the Defense Grid: You Monster expansion, that's what.

Coming December 7 to Xbox Live Arcade and Steam, Defense Grid: You Monster is the first full story expansion for the award winning futuristic tower defense game, featuring eight new maps, 35 challenge missions, and one hell of a crazy cameo.

Warping her way over from Valve's Portal franchise, GLaDOS is extremely curious about what the player and his more civilized artificially intelligent computer are doing with all of these towers, and when the all-powerful machine scientist gets curious, it's time for some tests. Players will be responsible for managing their defenses across a series of Portal-themed levels. That, and dying. Lots of dying. Don't worry; it's all for science.

On December 7th Portal's GLaDOS comes to Defense Grid [Hidden Path Entertainment]

Prop builder Zander Brandt, whose awesome Mass Effect rifle we've featured previously, has for his next project done something a little faster, a little more obnoxious.

It's the Force-A-Nature, one of the best weapons available for Team Fortress 2's Scout.

While it may not be one of Team Fortress 2's more memorable weapons, that doesn't make this replica any less impressive. I love the gloss effect, giving it that cartoon shine, just like the game.

The cosplay modelling is also a cute touch.

Team Fortress 2: Force a' Nature [Zander Brandt]

Portal's Aperture Science got its start in 1953 producing shower curtains for the US Army. So it's poignant that in 2011 the company goes back to its roots, and produces shower curtains for...your bathroom.

These curtains don't talk, don't sing and don't flash lights. They're just curtains. Good, honest curtains. The kind of curtains Cave Johnson would sell to the Army. Only without all the mercury*.

They cost $20, and you can grab one from the link below.

*WARNING: They may contain less than 1% mercury.

Portal 2 Aperture Laboratories Shower Curtain [ThinkGeek]

This video has been out there for a month or so, but I've never seen it and I bet a few of you haven't either.

In it four floppy drives render Portal's "Still Alive", by Jonathan Coulton. The music was created using Arduino and Java applications. Enjoy.

It shouldn't be hard to guess who it is, either. Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson was invited to play in Team Fortress 2's third Mixup event. Playing on RED, he was teamed with Valve's Jon Lippincott and Cobalt's Daniel Brynolf (against a BLU comprising filmmaker Freddy Wong, Valve's Robin Walker, and others). After Notch collected the "Primeval Warrior" medal in a later game, Walker also presented him with the "Top Notch" hat.

As described by the Team Fortress 2 wiki, the hat is a cardboard box that resemble's Notch's avatar in the visual style of Minecraft It's equippable by all classes (as this gallery shows) although because of its size, "it significantly clips with items that exist in the whole head, necklace, glasses, ears, face and beard equip regions."

As of now, Notch is the only one to possess it. From "Top Notch's" description:

Welcome to a secret society so exclusive it makes the Illuminati look like a Costco. How exclusive? You are the only member. This is the only item of its kind in all of existence. So don't craft it, Miney.

In case you're thinking Notch doesn't have skills deserving of such a trophy, check out this box score from another match, in which he was the overall high scorer, also bagging 37 kills.

I Love Team Fortress 2 [The Word of Notch]

"Top Notch"-equipped Demoman
"Top Notch"-equipped Engineer
"Top Notch"-equipped Heavy
"Top Notch"-equipped Medic
"Top Notch"-equipped Pyro
"Top Notch"-equipped Scout
"Top Notch"-equipped Sniper
"Top Notch"-equipped Soldier
"Top Notch"-equipped Spy

This never gets old.

Level Completed [imgur via icanhazcheeseburger]