france on technabob...

If this lamp concept from designer John Nouanesing is ever turned into a real product, it’ll be one of those things that’ll amuse you for a day or two. Afterwards it’ll just be a conversational piece, something to show your date while you figure out what to say – or do – next. Pretty soon you’ll be wondering why you…

Sonic the Hedgehog, Sega’s longtime blue mascot, is a bonafide icon, representing speed (and poor choice in friends). So, clearly, if you want to associate Sonic with a car, you’d choose… a Smart car.

Yep, there’s just something about those tiny, efficient vehicles that–no, you know what? There’s no reason to associate this Smart car with Sonic the Hedgehog other…

The Port of Yokohama in Japan is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year, and what better way to celebrate the opening of a port than with a couple of giant robot spiders from France?

The theater group La Machine terrorized performed at the Yokohama Bayside Area, bringing with them their 40 ft tall, 37-ton giant robot spiders. Finally, something weird…

Perfect for lighting up your drab living space, these Léon and Max chairs from French designer Philippe Boulet light up using color-changing RGB LEDs inside the seats, backs, and armrests. And best of all, they’re not tacky in the least.

Spotted on the streets of Lyon, France, where artists Benoit Deseille and Benedetto Bufalino transformed an old phone booth into an aquarium – complete with fish. Unfortunately, all of the calls just sound like blurble-blurble-blurble.

Nope, no matter how hard I try, I’m still not sick of Space Invaders. Now you can show that you’re an Invaders fanatic with these festive Space Invaders dog tags you can hang on all your stuff.

Created by La Tête Au Cube (the same guys who make the excellent Space Invaders door mat), these colorful aliens are perfect hung…

This funky modern lighting fixture might be named for its umbrella-like shape, but to me it looks like some sort of alien jellyfish is about land its spacecraft in your living room.

Created by French furniture designers Beau & Bien, the Smoon Ombrella lamp gets its sculptural potato chip-like shape from custom cut Plexiglas. Towering overhead at 81″ tall, the…

The first thing that pops into my mind when I hear the word “candelabra” is The Phantom of the Opera. The second is Liberace. The third is an old episode of Scooby Doo involving a haunted mansion. I’m reasonably certain that the words electronic and modern aren’t anywhere on the list. Of course, I’ve been wrong before.

French designer Philippe Boulet…

Paris design studio 5.5 Designers recently unveiled their series of household items based on your own unique body parts. My personal favorite among these oddities are the eyeball lamps, which are modeled after your very own peepers.

Other objects in the studio’s “Cloning” collection include vases, mirrors and other home accessories, all derived from your own personal body attributes. The…

I was buzzing about over on the wonderful world of Etsy today, when I came across these absolutely awesome plush versions of popular portable electronic gadgets. French textile artist Kmila Rodz handcrafts these super special soft systems using felt, needle and thread, with a just a dash of love thrown in.

From the wonderfully whimsical folding Nintendo DS Lite (complete…

Just in case you’re still living in the early 1990s and heading out to a rave this weekend, you might want to add these to your outfit before you head out onto the dance floor.

This pair of battery-powered gloves have a set of bright LEDs built into the fingertips. In addition to a brilliant blue always-on mode, the gloves…

Inspired by the mind-bending transportation technology in last year’s sleeper hit game Portal, this video clip uses digital augmented reality technology to produce a similar effect in the real world.

Created by EmmanuelMFr of France’s Total Immersion, the illusions in the video really are reminiscent of those in the game. Using his company’s D’FUSION software, he was able to swap…

I’m absolutely bonkers for these gorgeous new digital clocks from British industrial designer Theo Williams. The LEXON Jet series of clocks feature a bold electroluminescent backlit dot matrix display that’s really really easy to read.

In addition to telling time, day and date, the Jet wall clock also features a temperature display and an alarm. If you really dig his…

This clock tells time not in hours, minutes or seconds, but in years. It’s designed to very, very slowly make its way around the dial as you age.

Each number on the dial corresponds to a 7-year period of your life. By taking a standard clock mechanism and slowing it to 1/61320th of the speed of a standard timepiece, artist…

The last time I saw such a brilliant blending of Pac-Mania and illumination was the amazing Pac-Man Christmas tree that showed up on the streets of Madrid over the holidays. Now you can have your own personal Pac & Pals light show thanks to these fun colored light blocks.

Designed by French lighting company Remake Design, these clever interlocking light…