Inspired by the famous garbage compactor scene from Episode IV: A New Hope, these limited-edition hand-painted bookends flip that classic movie moment inside-out. You’ll notice that instead of keeping the walls from closing in on them, Han, Luke, Chewbacca and Leia are all working to keep the books upright. Clever. Although the way I remember it, Chewie was just hopelessly banging on the walls, and not really helping in any way. Of course, you can always flip the bookends around for a more accurate recreation of the original scene.

Unfortunately, you’re going to have to wait a while if you want these for your room. They’re not coming out until April 2010. In the mean time, you can pre-order them over at the Star Wars Shop for $189.99 (USD).

While you wait, sit back and enjoy this brief video interlude…

[via The Awesomer]

The video is fun to watch as you get to see the chair in action, following this guy around the library. Somehow the chair is cute enough that it doesn’t seem too creepy that it’s always right behind you.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Dutch designer Jelte van Geest created the chairs for Openbare Bibliotheek Endhoven, a library design project. He says. “Robots are often seen as mean machines. However, they do have a more friendly side, which should have a more prominent place in our society.” Whoa, there, Jelte- just don’t get too comfortable with them- or that whole robot overlord thing could happen right under our noses.

This is great for someone like me, because I’m lazy. Then again, I never go to the library so I guess I’d need a home version. Another application would be in a bar, so that when you get up to grab a new drink some jerk doesn’t steal your seat.

Now all it needs to achieve perfection is a cupholder.

[via momeld]

The Sony Reader features an innovative high contrast E-ink display, capable of allowing up to 7,500 pages to be displayed without a battery recharge. The display is designed to be read from just about any angle, and won’t wash out under daylight conditions (although I’d love a backlight for nighttime reading).

It’s hard to tell from the picture, but the Sony Reader is only about the size of a large paperback book at 6.9-inches high by 4.9-inches wide by .5-inch thick.

Out of the box, the player has sufficient (64MB) memory to store about 80 eBooks. Plenty of additional storage can be gained by adding a Memory Stick or SD memory card. In addition to displaying Sony’s book format, the Reader can also be used to view Adobe PDF files, JPEGs and even has audio playback capability for MP3 and AAC files.

Included with the Reader will be access to Sony’s CONNECT online store with over 10,000 eBook titles available for download. Sony has also announced that they will be including a $50 certificate toward eBook purchases with initial shipments of the Reader through December.

This is looking like it could be one of the must have gadgets for this holiday season.