The cartoon is from the genius of David Hayward.

Traditionally we do jokes, puns, and riddles as an intro to the weekly random linkage. This week I thought we’d try brain teasers — post your solutions in the comments below.

• A man who lives on the tenth floor takes the elevator down to the first floor every morning and goes to work. In the evening when he comes back, if it is a rainy day or if there are other people in the elevator, he goes to his floor directly. Otherwise, he goes to the seventh floor and walks up three flights of stairs to his apartment. Can you explain why?
• A square medieval castle on a square island is under siege. All around the castle there is a square moat 10 meters wide. Due to an unfortunate miscalculation, the raiders have brought footbridges to cross the moat, but each one is only 9.5 meters long. The invaders cannot abandon their campaign and return empty-handed — how can they resolve their predicament?
• Three Masters of Logic wanted to find out who was the wisest amongst them, so they turned to their Grand Master, asking him to resolve their dispute. “Alright,” the old sage said, “I will blindfold you all and paint either a red or a blue dot on each man’s forehead. When I take your blindfolds off, if you see at least one red dot, raise your hand. The one who guesses the color of the dot on his own forehead first will win.” So it was said, and so it was done. The Grand Master blindfolded the three contestants and painted red dots on every one. When he took their blindfolds off, all three men raised their hands according to the rules, then sat in silence pondering. Finally, one of them said: “I have a red dot on my forehead.” How did he know?

Okay, answer below. Next is of course the weekly linkage:

1. CBC Manitoba – Flood Watch 2009 — good information on past flooding along the Red River as well as current updates and explanation of an ice jam, lots of photos.
2. Grace asks some good questions, which reminded me of A Few Words on the Inevitability of the Incarnation
3. Still doubt the revolution? Wikipedia has just killed Encarta.
4. Please scrape off those bumper-stickers. You’re giving the rest of us a bad name.
5. Scot McKnight on the Golden Rule
6. Must-read: Bill Kinnon on NPD and Church Leaders
7. Follow the linkage of Jordon Cooper, From $10 Trillion to $23 Trillion in Debt
8. “Ivan Illich was once asked what the most radical way to change society was; was it violent revolution or gradual reform? He gave a careful answer. Neither. Rather, he suggested that if one wanted to change society, then one must tell an alternative story.” — from Alan Hirsch’s post, changing the story part III
9. The Digital Karl Barth Library
10. A brief solid quote on Affirming Christian Diversity — and what binds us together.
11. Christine Sine offers Reflections on a Rhythm of Life, springboarding from the quote, “A rhythm of life is an innovative way of expressing the Christian faith in the context of contemporary culture.”
12. I really enjoy Terry O’Reilly’s take on advertising and marketing in The Age of Persuasion on CBC Radio. Last week’s episode on Selling God takes a look at the intersection of faith and marketing, and is worth a listen. Terry’s definition of the megachurch alone suggests to me that he “gets it.”

13. I love John’s gospel, so I took note of Tony Stiff’s post on Three studies on the Gospel of John: Bauckham, Keener, and Newbigin I’ve read Bauckham and Keener, but not Newbigin on John… will have to try and put my hands on that one.
14. Top ten corporate April Fool’s pranks and Six of the best April Fool’s Tech Jokes. And some more pranks, and still more good ones online. Or there’s this comic, and Ed Cyzewski’s amusing contribution.
15. Book Freshener Adds Some Real Life Smells to Your E-books
16. Why I don’t listen to Christian radio
17. Brian McLaren: Six Stages of the Emerging Church Conversation
18. New blog: Missions, Misunderstood — as recommended by Bob Hyatt
19. Think on this one: Jesus Went to Georgia
20. The Burning Question: How Do We Lead Existing Communities Forward to Embrace Mission? Yes, it is.
21. Peter Rollins, in brief: God, Man, & Story
22. Why Jason Clark won’t declare he is a Christian
23. I thought this only happened in movies… but I bet you can’t watch this 4-minute video clip without smiling; filmed at the Central train station in Antwerp, Belgium.
24. The Hierachy Of Tweets – Analysing the Psychology of Twitter (via Bob Carlton)