No matter what your religion you belong to, you’ll be a believer in the church of 8-bit platform gaming once you see this brilliant work of stained glass art, based on the classic Megaman gaming franchise.
Created by video game enthusiast / artist Gary in Cleveland, it was painstakingly assembled from numerous individually cut colored glass “pixels”.
You can check out Gary’s complete photo set over on Flickr.
This has got to be one of the most amazing clock designs I’ve ever seen. At first glance, the display looks like a bunch of random matchsticks, but over time, they gradually transform into words that tell the time.
Conceived by Dutch industrial designer Christiaan Postma, the clock goes beyond the simple dial and number paradigms we’re all used to seeing, and really thinks outside of the box. Postma used over 150 individual clock mechanisms to power the 55-inch square timepiece.
For those of you with Flash installed (who doesn’t these days?), check out the animation below to see how it really works.
At this point, it’s not clear if Postma plans to produce the word clock, or if it’s simply a design prototype. Regardless, it’s a really unique idea, and I’d be thrilled to hang one on my wall if he ever does bring these to market.
[via Pan-Dan]
Musicians who want to use their iPods as an audio source now can easily do so, thanks to this handy new audio mixer with a built-in iPod dock.
Alesis new iMultiMix 9R is a rack-mountable audio mixer which can combine up to five different audio sources into a single set of stereo outputs. While it’s not the world’s fanciest mixer, it offers convenient docking and integration of your iPod as both an audio and video source.
In addition to basic audio mixing, the iMultiMix 9R gives you 2-band equalization for each channel, letting you precisely adjust the tone of each source prior to mix-down. While I probably wouldn’t try and run a recording studio with this thing, it’s capable enough for a lo-fi musical act or a small venue. It’s especially convenient if you want to incorporate music on the iPod as a backing track or to incorporate lo-res multimedia into a performance (thanks to its video outputs).
If you need a convenient way to mix audio, and your iPod is one of your sources, it’s well worth a listen. You can get your hands on the iMultiMix 9R at Sweetwater Audio for just under $300.
I just love the design of this new LCD watch from Casio. Combining the simplistic styling of the earliest digital watches from the 1970s, paired with decidedly modern innards, the Futurist LA-2002G is definitely one to put on your wish list if you like a little flash on your wrist.
Not only does the Futurist look great, it’s quite functional, offering 29 time zones around the globe, a 1/100th-second stop watch and countdown timer. The watch offers up to five independent daily alarms, and day/date display.
It’s all housed in a matte gold finish stainless steel case with a textured body and articulated metal band. While Casio lists the watch as a women’s design, I’d say it looks pretty unisex from the photos.
Until recently, the Futurist was available only in Japan, but watch importer TokyoFlash is now taking pre-orders for the watch for approximately $149 USD.
This has got to be one of the strangest iPod accessories I’ve ever seen. Just slip your iPod Nano into this camouflage jacket, and it’ll look just like a hunk of pricey (and delicious) Kobe beef.
Created by Japan’s Solid Alliance, the case comes packaged in a clever styrofoam butcher’s tray which helps complete the meaty illusion. Now why you’d ever want your iPod to look like a slab of meat is anyone’s guess. My first instinct would be to throw my Nano on the grill and cook it over a 550-degree flame. For some reason, I don’t think that would be a good idea.
If you’re just not getting enough red meat in your diet, head on over to GeekStuff4U and grab one. At the insane price of $97.86, maybe it’s actually made out of the extravagant luxury Japanese beef.
When you think of robots, you usually think of lumbering hunks of metal. Not these guys. These funky little ‘bots are made from clay instead of steel.
Created by Italian street artist Enrico Bertorelli — better known as Pixel Pancho — the Boot I series is a limited-edition ceramic art piece that’s a great addition any robot junkie’s collection. Only 29 each of the yellow and green robots have been made, so they’ll be a real collector’s item if you manage to get your hands on one.
I haven’t been able to find out how to purchase these little guys yet, but there is an Online Shop link over on the Superego website.
[via designboom]
Thanks to our friends over at Technorati, I’ve got my hands on a couple of full passes to next week’s Web 2.0 Expo to give away to two lucky Technabob readers. The show runs from April 22-25 in San Francisco, CA and is a great opportunity to learn about the latest Internet trends and technologies, and to interact with thousands of members of the community that is shaping the future of the Web.
Valued at up to $1,895 a piece, each pass will get you into the entire show, including:
Here’s How to Enter:
Simply write a really clever or witty caption for the photo above (taken at a previous Web 2.0 Expo), and post it in the comments below. The best two entries (in my opinion) will win passes. That’s all you need to do. Be sure to provide a valid e-mail address so I can contact you if you are a winner.
Since the conference begins on Tuesday, April 22, and online registration ends this Friday at 5pm, this is going to be a very short contest. That said, entries must be submitted by 11:59pm Central time on Thursday, April 17th, 2008 to qualify. Each winning entry will receive a special code which can be redeemed for one full Web 2.0 Expo conference and workshop pass.
If you’re not able to get yourself to San Francisco for the conference, please don’t enter and let someone who can attend win and enjoy the show.
While it’s common for casemodders to go to great lengths to convert their desktop systems into portables, It’s not often that I see laptops transformed into desktops. But in this case, the end result is truly a major improvement over the original.
This beautiful acrylic and perforated steel system started out as a beat-up Apple PowerBook that was nearly at death’s door. But modder Richard Hunt took his lemons and made some serious lemonade when he took his beat up old PowerBook, ripped it down to its bones, and placed its guts inside his slick hand-built case.
According to Hunt: “the case is made of two sheets of white acrylic, bolted together by socket countersunk screws. I’ve used 15mm chrome pipe as the four spacers between the acrylic sheet. The perforated steel was cut to my specifications by a very helpful chap found on eBay. Cutting the CD drive slot was a little tricky, as was drilling the power button hole, but once done they seem to function ok.”
As an added bonus, the system retained its original laptop battery, so it’s got sort of a built-in UPS.
The mod really proves that you don’t have to throw out your old systems if you’ve got time, talent and creativity.
The latest gadget to crawl out from the seamy underbelly of the Chinese gaming underground. Not to be confused with the GameBoy, the Cool Boy is a portable game system that plays a variety of old school 8-bit and 16-bit console titles.
From what I can tell, the Cool Boy is one of those systems that plays emulated NES and SEGA console games, and the only way to get them is through questionable packages like this 120-in-1 cartridge that clearly includes copyrighted works from major game studios like EA, Nintendo and Disney.
The cartridge claims to include all sorts of classics like Donkey Kong, Galaga, Tetris, Xevious and Lode Runner among others, but I strongly suspect that the games are either knock-offs or illegal bootlegs. The portable system includes a 2.4″ LCD screen (480×240 resolution), and can even output to a TV using its built-in AV port.
Still, the system is only about $36, and the 120 game cartridge around $8 bucks. So you’re not taking too much of a risk if the whole thing craps out in a month. If you’re willing to take a gamble, you can grab both the Cool Boy system and 120-in-1 game cartridge from importer DealExtreme.
Looking for a fun way to spruce up your gameroom? These fun Tetris block decals let you enjoy a life-sized version of the classic block puzzle game on your wall.
Created by a Vancouver, BC graphic artist going by the moniker “Fame”, the set of vinyl stickers are perfect for any smooth surface. Each set comes with a variety of square blocks in orange, green, fluorescent green, yellow, red, blue and purple. A full set of decals will set you back $42 bucks, and can be found over on Etsy.
The best part about this version of the game is that the board never fills up (unless you splurge and purchase 3 or 4 sets of ‘em).
