
The Lego Statue of Liberty Sculpture Set is an impressive piece of Lego architecture that you can build yourself. Just 80 easy steps and you’ve completed the 2882 piece, nearly 3 foot tall statue. Look at this young lad hard at work on his Lady Liberty Lego:

The impressive (and slightly difficult) part about putting together this kit is that save for the torch, the rest of the pieces ARE ALL THE SAME COLOR. Although maybe that makes it easier since you only have to sort your pieces by shape and not by color and shape before you put it together. The finished product is pretty impressive, can’t deny that, I mean you’re getting a Statue of Liberty made entirely of Lego but the set is perhaps a bit too pricey for my tastes.
Archive for the ‘General News’ Category

American’s most awesome DJ and television personality DJ Lance Rock is now available in a 3 inch DJ Lance Rock Dunny from KidRobot. For those not familiar with a Dunny (or who don’t like to click links to find out), it’s basically a customizable vinyl toy with rabbit ears. If you don’t know who DJ Lance Rock is, then you probably don’t have any kids. Well now fans of Muno and and the gang and fans of vinyl toys can come together and play nice with the DJ Lance Rock Dunny. With his trademark hat and boombox, DJ Lance Rock is sure to break it down and always make it a party (in my tummy, so yummy, so yummy). $9.95 for this vinyl toy.

If you tend to have a lot of broken lightbulbs around your house or business you know that they are dangerous and a pain in the tush to remove. Maybe you live on a golf course, next to a baseball bat testing facility, in an area with frequent drive-bys, or in a house on a farm that is hit by a tornado which uplifts your house and makes it land on top of a witch while Pink Floyd’s Money plays in the background.
I don’t know why you have one or many broken bulbs but you’ve got a problem and the EaseOut Bulb Remover makes it simple to remove those pesky broken bulbs. Just insert the long handled EaseOut into the socket and ease that lightbulb out. A plastic shield that looks like one of those clear disks you get when you buy a 50 CDR pack protects your hands and eyes from falling glass. Also works for lightbulbs that have rusted in place (although you’d have to smash them first). At $5.98 it’s an inexpensive solution to an annoying problem.
EaseOut Bulb Remover Takes Broken Bulbs Out…wait for it…with Ease

SparkPlug Flash is a very small (not much bigger than a quarter!) LED flash that you can plug into your older iPhone model. One of the biggest missing features of the iPhone, iPhone 3G, and iPhone 3GS models is the lack of a flash with the camera. It makes picture and video taking in low light pretty awful. The SparkPlug is entirely powered by your iPhone’s battery which makes it very light and compact and able to work on the spot without any charging up. It plugs right into your dock connector so it will work with most cases.

To turn the flash on or off, just press the built in touch sensor on the SparkPlug. The light puts out 96 lumens and it can also be used as a flashlight. It claims to light up to 18 feet away. The SparkPlug is available for $19.95 shipped. Check out the video:
The cap of the SparkPlug has a loop which allows you to string it up on your keychain or bag when not in use. Looks like a pretty cool little iPhone gadget that will make picture taking better.
SparkPlug Flash Adds a Tiny LED Flash to the iPhone 3G, 3GS

I really really like the design of this bird alarm clock. Did I mention I like the design? Yeah. It doesn’t even look like an alarm clock, it just looks like a little modern design bird sculpture for your bedside table. Most other alarm clocks make a big deal about putting the clock portion up front and making the number readable. But really when you’re sleeping there should be only two times that matter, time to go to bed and time to wake up. Besides, isn’t telling time what your cell phone does on the nightstand? Fear not, this bird does in fact tell time and sound a chirping alarm, check out the hindquarters on this fowl:

You can get the bird alarm for about $37, imported from Japan by the Rinkya folks.
Bird Alarm Clock is a Chirping Pleasant Way to Wake Up

Tina Sparkles, which is either a really cool made up name or the best name ever, made this dress out of recycled computer wires. There’s also a thrift store curtain and electrical tape in this dress which she calls “Systems Supernova”. Looks like something out of that crazy Project Runway challenge they have every year. Nice work.
via make

Get those magic fingers going with a pair of Vibrating Massage Gloves. The fingertips of these relaxing gloves generate 16-18,000 vibration pulses per minute which is over 4 times the frequency of conventional hand massage devices. Great for relieving tension, stimulating circulation and hitting deeper muscle sections. Each glove can be individually controlled with the detachable controller.

You can set it to do a full five finger massage for your arms, back, legs, stomach, chest or neck, or set it for the less intense two finger massage for sensitive areas like your eyes. The imitation suede gloves run on either battery or AC power. Comes in two sizes. Just a heads up, it’s from the UK, so you might need a plug adapter if you don’t run it off batteries and you’re not in the UK.
Vibrating Fingers Massage Gloves

These Star Wars Cookie Cutters from Williams Sonoma are anything but cookie cutter. Thank you folks I’ll be here at the comedy hut all week. Good night! But horrible puns aside, this cool cookie cutter set is missing super crucial Star Wars element- the Death Star. So here’s what one master baker did- make their own Death Star. Here’s a picture with the other cookies so you can see how these geek cookies turn out:

The homemade Death Star is on the far left. Obviously it’s inferior to the cookies made with the cookie cutters. I call upon the mighty gods of Star Wars product licensing to make a series two cookie cutters and include a Death Star. I’d also like a Chewy cookie (see what I did there?), a Princess Leia bikini cookie, a Jabba cookie cause I’m super hungry and an R2D2 cookie. Thank you Mr. Lucas. Make it happen.

Deskpets released the Skitterbot robotic toy today. It’s almost like a beetle or a fat bodied spider. They are calling this the “fastest legged robot commercially available” due to it’s travel rate of one foot per second. One of the cool features for the Skitterbot is the fact that it’s USB rechargeable, so no batteries needed (something any parent can appreciate). The other cool aspect is that in comes in 4 colors and each color is on it’s own frequency. So you can race them against each other or get multiple ones of the same color and control them all with a single remote. Create an army of Skitterbots. Here’s a video of these bots in action:
Amazon has them for about $27 each.
![]()

The Laxman “Innertainment” system is a set of headphones and googles that provides you with a next generation ultrasensory experience for an “unparalleled experience in focus and relaxation”. Light and sound combine to put you in a “dream-like state where your mind is unleashed to create a psychedelic kaleidoscopic of geometric structures in response to what you see, hear, and feel.” Woah trippy man.
It reproduces something called the Ganzfeld Effect. It comes with software to edit your own sessions:

“The Laxman’s patented All-Color Ganzfeld Open-Eye Goggles transmit every color of the light spectrum indirectly onto your eyes whether open or closed (try it both ways – the experience is different). And, your visibility to other stimuli outside the goggles is eliminated, causing you to witness visions of colors and shapes that correspond to your perception of the sound you’re also experiencing. These auditory impulse frequencies define rhythms the brain will happily follow into a relaxed, meditative state of mind.”
In other words, you will basically hallucinate. Includes four hours of professionally produced ambient and nature sound arrangements, including classical impulse frequencies, binaural-beats and hemicircle sounds. How will your brain respond? What will you see? How will you define your innertainment experience? There’s only one way to find out.
Anyone out there ever experience the Ganzfeld Effect? What was it like?
Experience the Ganzfeld Effect with a Laxman Inner-tainment System

The Star Wars Classic Full Size Wall Mural is the pièce de résistance you need to complete your mancave. This 9 foot tall by 15 foot wide wall mural will definitely make a statement in your room- a statement that you’re da bomb. The mural features the original Star Wars artwork and uses a special material called Surestrip. It is not a peel and stick mural that’s going to get all bunched up and amateur looking. Surestrip is a pre-pasted water activated material- you just dip each of the sequentially numbered strips into water and then apply to the wall with a soft brush. To remove or reposition it, just pick two corners and gently pull off the wall. You can buy the Star Wars wall mural for $254.99 at Entertainment Earth.
Star Wars Full Size Wall Mural

Awesome geeky necklace. The Pi Necklace has all the digits of the nerd number out to 100 decimal places (yes I counted them for you!) Show your geek pride with numbers. I don’t have any other information on this other than it’s made by RGB Laboratory and their products are sold in a number of stores in Japan. Also it’s freakin’ awesome.

Score a gooooaaaall with a remote controlled soccer cleat (or football boot for my non-American friends, hi). Each soccer shoe has four wheels underneath that are controlled and steered via remote. Each shoe also comes with it’s own mini-soccer ball and net (which looks to be strung up backwards in the picture). A detachable “scoop” is included for the toe of the shoe in case you are completely uncoordinated less skilled.
The cleats measure 9″ long and the ball is 3″ so it’s a pretty close to reality sized remote control shoe. The set of two costs £49.50 from this UK store, which is about $75, a fair amount of money for this toy but if I know soccer fans and their level of rabidness (and really I don’t but let’s just pretend that I do), the price won’t be much of an obstacle.

Many people chew on their pencils, either out of nervousness or boredom. But pencils taste like wood (or rubber if you’re chewing the eraser). So if you’re going to be chewing on your pencil, why not make the end of it a lollipop so at least you’d have a tasty treat when you’re not writing. It makes a whole lot of sense I guess. The only problem I see with these lollipop pencils is that you can never put them down unless you want your pencil to stick to the desk (or worse- your pocket).
via lowcy dizajnu (polish)
Lollipop Pencils: Better Tasting than an Eraser

Digg has been upgraded and there’s all sorts of new features… or so I heard. Because when I attempted to try it out today I quickly saw Digg’s version of the famed Twitter Fail Whale. Digg has gone with a retro Oregon Trail themed Fail screen (Oregon Fail?). Let’s hope Digg gets back on the trail soon and doesn’t get a case of dysentery while trying to cross the river.
New Digg: Oregon Trail Fail Screen

Adam Lindsley from This is Pizza scooped out this gigantic head shaped pizza oven at Marcello in Vancouver, BC. This enormous Neapolitan style wood-burning oven is in the shape of the Sun God- the Mediterranean symbol of prosperity. Unfortunately per Adam’s review, the oven did not bring the pizza any prosperity in taste, as he called it the low point of his visit to Vancouver. Here’s your pizza upskirt shot:

He complains that the crust was not charred, a mix of dried herbs was used instead of fresh basil, and Adam says the crust, sauce and cheese all needed salt. The fresh mozzarella “was so utterly devoid of flavor that I swear it actually leeched some of the precious life force from my tastebuds”. Then he had the taste of burnt garlic flooding his mouth. “Those particularly astringent bites made me grasp for my water glass to wash them down away from my tongue as quickly as I was capable.” Adam goes on to insult most of the people of Vancouver, “most Vancouverites know little about pizza” before dishing out a barb at the city itself calling it “a pizza wasteland”. But hey, at least the big head pizza oven was cool.
Giant Human Head Shaped Pizza Oven

If your backyard is starting to look like a minefield of dog poop, you’re going to need something a little stronger than a shovel. Something with power. Something like the Pooch Power Shovel. This device is basically a dog poop sucking vacuum on a stick.
You open it up, thread a bag through the nozzle, and suck up some dog business. The “good stuff” goes neatly into the biodegrable bag, which you can change without getting your hands dirty. No need to bend down or scoop either; just push the button and the rechargeable battery does the work for you. SkyMall has the Pooch Power Shovel on sale for $79.99 (plus check out my coupon codes below for more discounts). There’s also a video of this thing in action if you click through (watch for the awkwardly hilarious Dad/son high five at the end).
Get 10% off your SkyMall order (no minimum to buy) when you use code LS810 at checkout!
Plus, when you use code LS820 for $10 flat shipping on orders of $100 or more! Through 9/3
Electric Pooper Scooper: The Pooch Power Shovel

While the X-Box red ring of death might be every gamer’s worst nightmare, this red ring is much more positive. Because it’s an actual power ring. Designed and produced by shinyLines, a girl geek created line of geekwear and geek jewelry, the ring features the ubiquitous power symbol. Made of artisan hand-finished rhodium plated cast .925 solid sterling silver, the $39.99 comes in either brushed matte or glossy shine finish.

The power symbol itself has a translucent color that reflects and shimmers in different lighting for a cool effect. This would actually be a pretty cool wedding band ring for a geeky guy, especially someone that’s a bit opposed to wearing a ring at all. Oh you don’t want to wear a ring…but what if it was a power ring? Ok then. It also comes with the power symbol in blue, white, black, or green but none of those make for as snappy a post title as a red ring (of death)
.
This is Not the Red Ring of Death

I’ve seen similar functioning products before but they are bulky plastic things that cradle the entire carton of milk or juice (like this one for example). This design for a milk carton handle by Minna, takes a more minimalist and stylish approach. It’s made simply from two joined pieces of wood.

The other advantage this has over the plastic cradle types, besides just looking better is that it can attach to any size carton. Also it looks like you can easily clip it on and off from your milk carton, which means you can use one for multiple beverage cartons in your fridge and you don’t have to keep them attached all the time, thus saving space. Not sure of any availability- the site is from Japan, but I like this product, simple, elegant, and functional.

If you’ve ever wanted to build your own Darth Vader Robotic Arm, now you can. It’s made from 45 snap together parts that come together to build a working robotic arm. The arm is able to grip and manipulate lightweight objects.

No batteries are required, the robotic arm is hand powered (yes that last phrase sounds really weird- a hand powered arm?). Learn about basic robotics and construction. Just don’t get too close when it’s complete or someone might try out the death grip on you. $39.99 from ThinkGeek (check out the coupon code below!)
Use code SKOOLGEAR for $5 off your $25+ or $10 off your $40+ order, good through 11:59pm ET 8/28/2010.
Build Your Own Darth Vader Robotic Arm Kit

It looks just like a tube of lipstick but it’s really a ballpoint pen. I don’t know about this one- there’s a lot of disadvantages over just a tube of lipstick. First off, you can’t scrawl creepy notes on mirrors with it. Secondly you can’t use it on your lips. And third, it loses a bit of the spontaneous appeal if you’re writing your phone number on some guys arm in the club using a pen that looks like lipstick instead of lipstick itself. On the plus side, it won’t smudge or stain. Lipstick ballpoint pen.

If you’re measuring rainfall using your boots and those measurements start above your foot, well let’s face it- you’re in it pretty deep. And if you’re American you’re doubly screwed because these boots look to be measuring in centimeters. Now you’ve got to whip out your conversion chart just see how deep of a situation you’ve gotten yourself into. These boots would probably be more useful in snow but since they’ve already named them Rain Level, that might just be a little marketing problem. They run about $90 from stores in Italy.
(thanks for the tip T-b0nE)
Rain Level Boots Tell You How Screwed You Are

Hey it’s a mug with the Tardis from Dr. Who right on it. Awesome. Let me just add some hot tea. Hey guys look at my mug with the Tardis on it…. hey wait. It’s gone. The Tardis is gone! Oh wait, here it is appearing in a galaxy on the other side of my mug. Neat trick. A must have for all Dr. Who fans who also drink hot beverages from mugs. $12.99 from Perpetual Kid.
Dr. Who Disappearing Tardis Mug

KJ Global is calling this the world’s first eco-friendly motion sensing light bulb. I’m no green power expert but I can Google things and pretend, which I did, and based upon my 10 second search I’d say it looks like it’s the only one that has the motion sensor built right into the bulb and not as a bulky add-on. So mazel tov fellas. The tip of the bulb has a motion sensor so the light only goes on when someone is in the room (and moving). The bulb will fit into any standard light socket.
It might get a bit annoying if you’re just sitting there reading and you have to keep waving your arm around to get the light to turn back on, especially if there’s that half second pause before the CFL’s light up and super especially if you’ve got one of these installed in a bathroom. On the other hand, if you’re the type who forgets to turn lights off when they leave the room, now you can actually get some real savings out of that compact fluorescent instead of just leaving it on all the time. The luminance level and lighting duration before shutting off can both be adjusted. The bulb costs about $22 (which is a lot more than a regular CFL bulb) from the European distributor plus shipping, so it’s probably not worth it unless you can find a local place selling it, or a much cheaper price.
via redferret
World’s First Motion Sensing CFL Light Bulb

These self supporting glass stairs look really cool, can’t deny that, in fact they look like something right out of an Apple Store (especially the the New York City stores). But the difference between the Apple Store staircases and this set from Italy’s Farone is that Steve Jobs and Co. went for frosted glass and supports on both sides while this staircase goes clear and self supported. This staircase looks like it would be slightly nerve racking to walk up.

I can’t even hang a small shelf in my walls without it sagging and I’m not even about to attempt to mount a heavy flat panel TV to the wall, much less something made of glass that I would be entrusting my life to by walking on. Every step up would make me question whether I should have gone for that extra slice of pizza or not. These stairs will make you question how much your trust your engineer and/or architect. That said, they look really sleek and would look fantastic in a loft or other big open modern minimalist designed space. Just don’t invite me over.
via trendir
Things I Will Never Walk On: Self Supported Glass Stairs
Posts
