The best Superheroes challenge us to think. Push us to look at the world differently.

Lensmaster BFUniv.com, aka Allan Wallace, made this page as a tribute to one of his superheroes: Ayn Rand.

Who have you thanked lately? Who inspired you, scared you, freed you, pushed you, changed your corner of the world? Do they know? Have you dedicated a page to them? (And earned money, for free, for charity?) What's stopping you?

After all: "The question isn't who is going to let me; it's who is going to stop me." -- Ayn Rand

Oh, and the best thing about a Superhero Author? You can always re-read the book!

http://www.squidoo.com/aynrandian

Congratulations to Allan for being one of our 5 winners of the Superhero contest for charity. He's won $500 for his favorite nonprofit because of it.

Superheroes won't accept limits.

ComfortDoc introduces us to just such a Superhero with her amazing lens on Amy Jaffe Barzach and Boundless Playgrounds. It's the first of five winners of our Superheroes challenge for charity.

Amy founded Boundless Playgrounds so that all children can play together. The people at Boundless Playgrounds create "barrier-free" playgrounds so handicapped children can play with all the other kids.

Amy translated her own personal tragedy into doing something so that all children can have fun together. Nothing to stop them.

Thanks to you, the Squidoo community, and to ComfortDoc, $500 will be donated to help the next playground be built.

A visit to the playground anyone?

http://www.squidoo.com/boundless-playgrounds

P.S. We'll be profiling the next 4 Superhero winners here this week! Stay tuned.

Um, don't you just throw 'em out?

Is there really a special procedure?

Well, sometimes it’s the little things in life that make a big difference.

How To Dispose Of Batteries Properly by hmsweaver (who is also the brains behind the supercool Geek Mom Mashup blog), shows you how and where to get rid of your old batteries... which are essentially hazardous chemicals that contaminate our landfills.

She lists lots of neat sites that offer “greener” alternatives than your garbage can. So the next time you’re about to chuck an Energizer D Cell in the trash, think about where it’s going, and the Earth will thank you!

--This LotD selection brought to you by Giant Squid Organizer Bonnie, aka BDKZ.

Happy July!

Adez7 is full of clever lenses for parents and kids, but on a hot summer day nothing tops her Water Toys lens.

Step aside, Slip-n-Slide, you ain't seen nothin yet.

http://www.squidoo.com/watertoys

What happens at midnight on July 1?

No, no one turns into a pumpkin.

Rather, The Squidoo Superhero Project for charity comes to an end.

We'll spend the rest of the week pulling our hair out trying to decide our top 5 winners, the 5 most inspiring lenses that each get $500 donated to the charity of their choice. We'll profile the winners here, one a day, from Monday July 7th to Friday July 11th.

You still have some time to throw your hat in the ring! Check out this lens from Comfortdoc for some great tips:

http://www.squidoo.com/squidoo-superhero

P.S. Just because the Superhero challenge is over tomorrow, it doesn't mean you should stop dedicating charity lenses to the people who inspire you. In fact, we've got a bunch more ideas and contests for charity coming up soon. Gonna be a fun summer.

If you love Disney or Pixar, you have to know what today is -- it's the opening day for the newest, sure to be a hit, Disney/Pixar movie Wall*E. And, you can't be nearly as excited as EverythingMouse about it!

This lens surfaced as one of the finalists in the recent 10 Day eBay Squidoo Challenge. And is a winner in its own right. Do you want to know what Wall*E stands for? Do you want to buy some Wall*E jammies? Or, perhaps, do you need a poster, or your very own plush Wall*E.

If you've been hiding under a rock and don't know what the movie is all about, you're going to find it all right here. And you're going to have a lot of fun while you're at it.

http://www.squidoo.com/wall-e-toy

--This Lens of the Day writeup brought to you by Giant Squid Organizer GypsyPirate.

Yesterday I introduced you to Bela's Boutique, a whipsmart eBay-Squidoo seller.

Today I'm gonna talk about someone who doesn't sell on eBay at all. Someone who was the other surprise winner of our 10 Day eBay Squidoo Challenge.

Huh? Isn't that like getting an Oscar for a film you had nothing to do with?

Nope. Here's the secret: Kim Giancaterino has figured out how to make eBay better.

That's a bold statement, and you can take it to the bank. Here's why.

Kim is a big fan of The Monkees. So she put together a page about them. She wrote a little background about the group, added polls for fellow fans (is Daydream Believer your favorite song, too?) and hunted down the coolest finds, rarest collectibles, and funkiest memorabilia that eBay had to offer. The Monkees on DVD, on VHS (hah!), a Davy Jones ring (okaayyy), Monkees finger puppets, and even this gem: "MIKE NESMITH MONKEES 1961 DALLAS HIGH SCHOOL YEARBOOK."

But what Kim really did was organize eBay around her topic, and act as a human editor or tour guide for other fans and potential buyers.

eBay buyers should love this. It's like windowshopping. Kim makes it fun for you, and saves you a lot of time.

eBay sellers should be even giddier to see what Kim is up to. Someone recommending the stuff you sell... driving new customers your way... and you didn't have to do anything other than sell something worth talking about? You bet.

Finally, there's another party that comes out ahead from this whole thing. And that's Kim. For every page she makes like this one about The Monkees, she earns a royalty. If people buy the eBay stuff she talks about, she gets even more. For her or for charity.

Suddenly there's en economy of eBay reviewers out there. What if you followed Kim's cue and made 10 or 100 or 1000 lenses about your interests. About your favorite U2 songs or old Cary Grant movies, or about your obsession with red cowboy boots and your secret need to collect as many white legos as you can get your hands on. On each lens, act like an eBay tour guide. Dig up the best, quirkiest, coolest stuff for sale on your topic -- stuff you wish you could burn money on yourself! -- and point your readers to it.

I bet you a signed Monkees lunchbox that you'll surprise yourself with your own results.

http://www.squidoo.com/monkees-merchandise

I want to introduce you to someone.

She's an eBay powerseller, a stay at home mom and a makeup junkie. She started Bela's Boutique about two years ago to sell high end cosmetics and skincare--for a steal. The success of her store has made it possible to stay home with her 4 year old daughter... yes, you guess it... Bela.

She's also one of our 2 winners of the impossible-to-pick-just-one "10 Day eBay Squidoo Challenge" that just finished.

What we loved about her winning lens The Scott Barnes Cosmetics Showcase is that it is friendly, focused, sincere, spotlights her bestselling items, and doesn't stop there. Bela'sBoutique went above and beyond for her readers by sharing the 10 Fab Reasons to buy from her (because 3000 happy customers can't be wrong), recommending related links and books for the real makeup junkies out there, and polling people on their satisfaction with her store.

As if that's not enough, she decided to give back a little too, and made a list of all her favorite eBay sellers to thank. "I am not only a Power Seller but I am a Power BUYER too! I love Ebay, there I said it. I rarely shop anywhere else. Why when it is all right here and I dont have to pay high gas prices, push thru the crowds at the mall or even go store to store to compare prices!"

Oh yeah, and she's got 9 other Squidoo lenses focused on other brands she sells. Don't miss her Clarins Cosmetics Showcase and the cutely amusing Crazy Ramblings of an Obsessed Makeup Junkie lens.

The point? If you're an eBay seller, do what Bela'sBoutique is doing. Make Squidoo pages (hey, it's free) to showcase your stuff and interests and ramblings... and point people back to your eBay store. Do that x10, stay authentic, smile a little, and I'm going to bet you'll see your traffic and sales surge in no time.

P.S. A big fat postscript for you all here: There wasn't just one winner of the 10 Day eBay Challenge... there were two! Tomorrow I'll feature our other winner, someone who doesn't sell on eBay at all... but knows more about making a killer eBay lens than anyone.

Every weekday (or nearly that) Squidoo's Editor in Chief, Megan Casey, highlights a lens that stands out from the crowd, a lens that is unique in topic, approach, personality, tools or timing. Or, you know, just a lens that made her guffaw a little.

If you find a lens you'd like to submit for LotD consideration, send it to Megan here.

Looking for some help and advice on your own lenses? Swing by SquidU, where tons of smart lensmasters hang out.