Yahoo! Picks - bringing you the best of the Web since 1995

Trickery! Villainy! Violation! Pursuit! In the 1930s, a Russian scholar named Vladimir Propp studied the "basic plot components" of his country's folk tales and came up with a list of the mythic stories' "series of actions"—or "functions." Though the Eastern European thinker surely didn't imagine the rise of the Internet, an imaginative class at Brown University has brought Web and academic together with the Proppian Fairy Tale Generator. This ingenious online game presents the basic structures of the fables Propp dissected. You, the reader, select which functions you like. Click as many as you want: Mediation? Branding? Reconnaissance? Hit "generate" and a fairy tale based on your choices will appear before your very eyes. Note: Disney these ain't. Even the "preset" versions of Cinderella, Snow White, and Hansel and Gretel read like nothing you've heard (or seen) before. The legends woven by this raconteur of a generator are imaginative, richly detailed, and undomesticated. The Grimms would approve. So, we like to think, would Vladimir Propp.

As the curtain closes on a rousing fortnight of Athenian triumph, tragedy, and steady boozing, we raise an olive branch in salute of those inspirational, celebrational immortals, Greek or otherwise. While the ancient Olympics aimed to please a pantheon of playful Greek gods, other cultures have their own frat-boy antics. There's Loki, the Nordic trickster and the whole drunken lot in Valhalla; Backlum-Chaam god of Mayan "masculine horniness"; and Lemminkainen the honey-wielding Finn of conjuring and conjugality. Sexpots and crackpots aside, gods can be creative, peaceful, and enlightening. Some are chaotic and bile-raising. With over 1,700 gods and monsters to choose from, you'll no doubt find a suitable mother or father figure to admire -- or fear. Perhaps the god of lettuce and sex has the best gig of 'em all. Don't forget to leave your burned offerings at the altar.

The fleet-footed Greek god Hermes is your playful host on this sweeping aerial tour of the fabled Mount Olympus and the heroes, monsters, and immortals that hang out there. Follow the messenger god as he alights on the amphitheatre, where tales of Orpheus and the Underworld, as well as Demeter and Persephone, are retold through interactive cartoons. Next, stop by the Olympic arena, where Daedalus makes light of Icarus� bird complex while Amazons go sandal-to-sandal with Athenians. Have a burning question? Ask the Delphic Oracle and look into your future. Other Grecian goodies include mythical desktop backgrounds and Gorgon-inspired e-cards, perfect for when you care enough to send the very Hellenic. Amid the fun, Hermes returns to walk you through ancient philosophy, art and architecture, food and fashion, and the history of Olympic tradition. Let your imagination soar in this animated dream world.