Here’s a crazy idea for those of you with a sense of the absurd. How’d you like to spend about $800 on a handmade plaster lamp, only to crack it open with a pick axe as soon as you take it out of the box?

That’s exactly the value proposition you’ll get if you pick up artist Jordi Canudas’/a> Less Lamp. You see, this pendant lighting fixture looks like a solid black hanging egg when you first receive it, letting exactly none of the light out into your room. But thanks to the included pick, you can chip your way through the delicate exterior eggshell and let the light shine out to your own liking.

As a matter of fact, you can start small, cracking out a few tiny pinholes to let the light out. But when you get bored with that, get the pick out again, and really get to work. A tap here and a pick there, et voila – a bright wash of light emerges from the bottom of your once perfect – now cracked – egg.

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

If you’re into breaking some eggs to make omelets, you can head on over to the MoMA Store/a> and order yours now.

Here is the original post:
less lamp: break your lamp the minute you get it/a>

Chatman is a new sort of toy that plugs into your computer, helping to make your instant messaging more interesting for everyone, especially kids.

Chatman is kind of an emoticon itself, but it’s able to display different faces based on your IM discussions. Basically, the device is able to gauge the mood of the conversation you’re having and will show it.

It’s compatible with most chat clients, from Facebook to Google Talk, and you can also upload custom new emoticons. While it isn’t really a parental control system, it will nag your kids if they are chatting about things that they shouldn’t. It has 3 personality options which include over 500 actions and 25 customizable moods.

My only question: when will it start talking back?

via Pocket Lint/a>

Go here to read the rest:
chatman displays your emoticons and nags your kids/a>

Valentine’s Day is around the corner, and what better way for us geeks to show our love than with another geeky shirt? But the 8-bit Dynamic Life shirt isn’t just any geek shirt; it’s specially made to show your loved one that you’re more alive with them around. When the wearers are far apart, the heart containers are depleted, with only 2 and a half hearts filled up.

But if the wearers get within “hugging distance” of each other, all of the heart containers fill up! Awwwwwwwwwwww, what a cute way of getting you to buy two shirts at once. Love (and radio frequency detection) at work.

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

You can get the 8-bit Dynamic Life shirts at ThinkGeek/a> for $18 to $25 (USD) per shirt (price varies depending on size); in addition to everlasting love, you need to 3 AAA batteries for each shirt. But what if your special someone is a something? ThinkGeek’s got you covered – instead of buying another shirt, you can get a Transmitter Pack. Place it near your blow-up doll favorite object and watch your life max out when you get near it.

via Kotaku/a>

Read more here:
8-bit dynamic life shirts: you are my potion/a>

Sportpong/a> is a Nintendo-like take on the classic game, requiring physical movement to block or hit a virtual ball. But instead of using their hands, players put on paddles in the form of reflectors on each feet and play on a projected field.

Projectors beam down the field, while a camera tracks the movement of the reflector. The Sportpong software was built using vvvv/a>, a “multipurpose tool kit for real time video synthesis.”

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Frankly I’d rather play with an actual football, but then that wouldn’t be nerdy at all.

via The Awesomer/a>

The rest is here:
sportpong: tennis + football + nerds/a>

This shiny Mylar dirigible doesn’t look like the safest airship I’ve ever seen. No, not because of its poor aerodynamics. It’s more about the fact that it’s controlled by a group of people standing in another room who are trying to maneuver the blimp through various silly body movements.

Created by a group of students for Simon Fraser University’s School of Interactive Arts + Technology (SIAT), the weBlimp/a> is a remote-controlled flying machine that’s driven through crowd collaboration. A camera and audio sensors installed in one room react to the crowd’s movements and convey those to the blimp’s flight controls in another room.

According to its creators, the weBlimp’s control mechanism “conceptually miniaturizes participants and places them inside the gondola of a remote controlled blimp.” As you can see by the video below, it’s really a pretty ridiculous way to control the thing, and produces what I wouldn’t call the most controlled flight you’ve ever seen. But it still looks like fun.

strong>Click to View Embedded Video Clip

At least they didn’t fill their airship with hydrogen, cover it with highly flammable paint then hit it with some static electricity.

via GreenDiary/a> via NOTCOT/a>

Read the rest here:
weblimp crowd-controlled remote airship: oh the humanity!/a>