This is how the moneyed elite unwind after a hard day of manipulating their underlings, ordering pawns around, pulling strings here and there – by manipulating foosmen. Exquisitely and finely crafted foosmen.

VIP Kicker’s Premium Edition foosball table is handcrafted, adorned with over 18,000 Swarovski crystals. The foosmen, playing field surface and table surface can also be customized, i.e. to further emphasize how rich its owner is.

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img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/3e024ff40e50×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-3″ />
img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/3061d663b850×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-5″ />
img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/44c08cc48750×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-4″ />
img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/a16e039f1f50×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-6″ />
img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/842fda77de50×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-7″ />
img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/59dadd197b50×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-1″ />
img width=”150″ height=”150″ src=”http://acoolgadget.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/7b9b867b4c50×150.jpg.jpg” class=”attachment-thumbnail” alt=”" title=”vip-kicker-premium-edition-foosball-table-8″ />

The last picture in the gallery is VIP Kicker’s Crystal Edition. It has over 140,000 Swarovski crystals on its surface, which will instantly blind anyone whose eyes are not used to such wastes of money displays of uniqueness and individuality. Check out VIP Kicker’s website/a> for more info if you think your master will like their product. You can also visit Harvey Nichols in the UAE & England and Harrods in London to purchase the table.

via Bornrich/a>

More here:
vip kicker premium edition foosball table: you must be a millionaire or richer to play/a>

All this talk about augmented reality is cool, but this is a really cool application of this technology. The design basically involved tattooing a simple barcode onto someone’s arm.

What happens next? Well, check out the video below – when a camera views the barcode, it’s transformed into a flying dragon.

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The augmented reality tattoo was developed by the Buenos Aries based ThinkAnApp/a> studio. They developed specialized software to recognize the AR barcode on a curved surface like an arm.

via Designboom/a>

Read more here:
augmented reality tattoo can fly off!/a>

“He who does not look back will never reach his destination.” So goes an old saying we have here. It doesn’t make sense (or at least my translation doesn’t), nevertheless it is appropriate for today’s gaming news: EA has made the classic Command & Conquer Tiberian Saga available for free download.

I think Red Alert and Tiberian Dawn have been free for some time now, and EA says the addition of Tiberian Sun and Firestorm to the list of free downloads is an early Valentine’s gift.

But with Red Alert 4 on the horizon – the game comes out on March 16 – we’d all be stupid to think that this isn’t a way to promote the aging series. Still, it’s free! Head on to Command & Conquer Classics/a> to download the games. The Red Alert Soviet & Allied ISOs are 520 MB each, Tiberian Dawn’s GDI & NOD ISO’s are 600MB each, and the Tiberian Sun & Firestorm installer weighs in at 1.2GB.

via CVG/a>

See original here:
command & conquer the tiberian saga for free!/a>

Darth Bane received this from lightninglisa/a>, a fellow member of the Brotherhood of Darkness, as a birthday gift. It was immediately Force Lightning’d to ashes (along with the gift-giver). Bane took the gift as the last straw, another sign of the Brotherhood’s… weirdness, and so he left to establish his own Sith Order.

One thousand years later, his Order would defeat the Jedi and the Republic. Had he not received this cross-stitch, who knows what would have happened?*

(* none of the events mentioned here are canon)

via Geek Crafts/a>

The rest is here:
the dark side’s soft side/a>

Would you believe this cute little robot toy costs less than $10 bucks? Zibits are a new series of low-priced miniature robots that are perfect on your desktop or for your kids (or cats) to play with.

The guys over at Senario sent me a sample Zibits/a> robot to play with – he kinda reminds me of the Android logo/a>, but in orange instead of green. In all, there will be 12 different robot designs for you to collect – so you could build out an entire robotic army for about $120.

Zibits measure about 2.5″ tall, and feature little light-up LED eyeballs, and offer just one basic set of maneuvers – drive forward, or do a 360-degree spin move using the remote joystick. Sure, your plans for world robotic domination might be difficult to achieve with that one move, but whaddya want for $10 bucks?

Here’s a video of the little robot dude in action:

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Those funny robot sounds on the video? They come out of the remote control, and not the robot himself to keep things compact. The little guys comes with three button batteries to power their motors, and an IR remote that you can use to control ‘em on any flat surface. You will need to grab a couple of AAA batteries for the remote, and a small screwdriver to install the batteries for your kids.

Senario says that Zibits will be available in Toys “R” Us stores starting in mid-March 2010, and they’ll be available in the UK sometime late in the Summer.

Follow this link:
zibits mini r/c robots spin into town/a>

During their visit to the 2010 Nuremberg Toy Fair/a>, the guys over at Hobby Media/a> snapped this pic of some awesome new LEGO Star Wars minifig alarm clocks.

Each 8-inch tall maxi/minifig sits on your bedside table, and includes an oversize LCD alarm clock in its squared-off chest. I can’t decide if I’d want the Stormtrooper or Anakin to wake me up every morning. I love the hand detail on Anakin/Darth. Very clever. The only thing it’s missing is a LEGO lightsaber. I guess you could try and stick one of these/a> in his hand.

No word on when or where these will turn up, but I’m sure you’ll be able to find them in a galaxy far, far away sometime later this year.

See original here:
lego star wars minifig alarm clocks ready to wake you up/a>

If you haven’t already bought a Valentine’s card for your sweetie, you’re probably screwed. But if you’re looking for an idea for next V-Day, check out this amusing iPhone inspired greeting card.

Crafter yummypocket created this clever Valentine designed to look vaguely like an actual iPhone. It measures roughly the size of the real deal, and is made from black foam, blue card stock and grey vinyl.

While the only app it runs is “I love you”, it’s also a whole lot cheaper than a real iPhone. Want to stock up for next year? Head on over to yummypocket’s Etsy shop/a> and place your order now.

Memo to tech geeks: If you get one of these for your girlfriend and she’s not a gadget-o-phile, it might send the message that you love your tech toys more than her. Caveat Emptor.

View original post here:
iphone valentine’s day card: will you hold my hand(held)?/a>

Sony recently showed off a prototype of a high-speed wireless technology which ships signals around between internal electronic components. Sony says they developed the wireless technology to overcome current costs and manufacturing complexities due to the sheer number of wires and circuit layers required to handle today’s complex circuits.

The prototype circuit sends signals using radio waves in the 60GHz millimeter waveband (I think I saw them play at a local nightclub last night), and can transmit data at up to 11Gpbs over a distance of up to 14mm. As the components get further apart, transmission speeds drop to about 4.3Gbps from up to 60mm away.

In addition to cutting down on the complexity and cost of wiring, the breakthrough could someday be used to create gadgets that could be disassembled and maintained much more easily than today’s electronics with all of those wire harnesses that need to be disconnected for service. Never mind the fact that the wireless circuit board concept could allow for much more flexibility in where the various circuit boards are placed within a piece of equipment.

No word on if or when Sony will introduce this technology in any production devices, but it’s a pretty cool idea for sure.

via Tech-On!/a>

See the original post here:
sony shows off internal wireless circuits/a>

Talk about overkill. This new technology can track down individual mosquitoes and take them out using a laser beam. That’s definitely one way to kill bugs dead.

Created by Intellectual Ventures Lab/a>, the Photonic Fence Anti-Mosquito Laser System can hunt down and identify the little buggers with amazing precision. The system’s custom software first uses a non-lethal laser to identify an invading mosquito and ensure it’s a mosquito by measuring the insect’s size and wing speed. Once it’s sure the correct target is in its sights, a seconds, killer laser trains its beam on the stinging pest and smokes it out of the sky, presumably by disrupting its DNA. What a way to die.

Now sit back, relax, and enjoy some slo-mo mosquito-killin’ goodness:

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

The scientists managed to create their initial prototype almost entirely from bits and pieces of used electronics they found on the web. Amazingly, the system can differentiate between mosquitoes, butterflies, and bumblebees and even can figure out if a mosquito is a boy or a girl. Now the guys over at Intellectual Ventures Lab say they developed the system in their quest to put an end to malaria, but I think they just wanted to fry some mosquitoes with laser beams. Who wouldn’t?

via BotJunkie/a> via Geekologie/a>

Read more from the original source:
killing mosquitoes with laser beams/a>

I was considering filing this under ‘Cute or Stupid?’, but my common sense prevailed. Designed (?) by Erik De Nijs, this pair of pants called “Beauty and the Geek” has no ounce of cuteness or any redeeming factor whatsoever.

I don’t know about you, but I certainly am not cool with poking my crotch every now and then in order to type. It’s too impractical for geeks, and not even the blind would call this thing beautiful.

via Yanko Design/a> via puremodern/a>

Read more here:
computer keyboard pants: neither fashionable nor geeky/a>