The Roundup: Aug. 17-21

You loooved seeing San Francisco's famously winding Lombard Street transformed into a sugary dose of nostalgia. Scroll down to Aug. 20 in the Smile File and check out what Tonic's own Erin Green uncovered: To make commuters (and tourists and pedestrians) smile, the road was turned into a real life Candy Land path. Brightly colored squares — devoid of that pesky Molasses Swamp — make for a playful skip down memory lane for us grownups, an indulgence into game-time fantasy land for kiddos. Knowing that patients from the local children's hospital got some good playtime in makes it all the more smileworthy.And in darker back-to-childhood news, the Happy Meal gets a makeover ... in the most macabre sense imaginable. Leave it to PETA to push our buttons with a Ronald the Ripper-esque version of the classic boxed lunch. Ben Corbett treats us to an Unhappy Meal in "McRippin' Good Fun in the Fast Food Empire."John Casey gives us some restored faith in the pharmaceutical community, filling us in on medical support in flu-riddled areas. His post "100 Million H1N1 Vaccine Doses — At No Cost" offers reassurance both in the form of human generosity and scientific advancements.You sure do love your eBay WTF of The Days. Annie Scott keeps us in stitches by pointing out the bold, the bizarre and the hilarious wares that spring cleaners are hocking on that ol' auction haven. "Naked Heels"? There's a WTF for that. "Jeans on a Tie"? There's a WTF for that. "Mystery Item"? Well, wouldn't you like to know.While the race for fuel-efficient cars motors on (har, har), these guys have figured out a way to tinker with the good stuff to make it even better. Proving that breaking into an automobile doesn't have to be an act of cruelty, Steve Tanner unveils a diesel hybrid (in effect) that kicks tech research to the curb (har) and gets back to basics. Check it out in "Hacked Hybrid Gets Neary 100 Miles Per Gallon."