Technabob » lightsaber

Jedi Academy Exists, Midichlorians Not so Much

Lambert Varias — Mon, 14 May 2012 17:00:37 +0000

It turns out we don’t have to journey for a long, long time or travel far, far away if we want to be Jedi, because there’s an academy right here on Earth. The New York Jedi club offers classes for Star Wars fans on using lightsabers. Or at least replicas of lightsabers, and I don’t think they have a course on the use of the Force either.

The classes are run by Flynn Michael, who doesn’t seem to teach an actual fighting technique so much as share the style and choreography of lightsaber battles from the Star Wars prequels. Obviously the biggest draw about the club is the community, meeting and playing with other fans. Because no Padawan wants to role play alone. Here’s a short feature on the club by Diagonal UK:

Use the force of the Web and head to the New York Jedi website for more info, or to apply as a Jedi Web Designer. I wonder if there’s also a Sith Academy somewhere in this wide and strange world of ours. But at only two members maximum that will be a much lonelier club.

[via The Viral Trend]

LaserSaber is as Close to a Lightsaber as We Can Get

Conner Flynn — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:00:30 +0000

How many kids have wished for a real lightsaber? Millions. Myself included. Well, the LaserSaber from Wicked Lasers is pretty awesome and in some ways it is as close as we are likely to get to a real lightsaber.

This $100 device can be attached to the pricey Spyder III-class green and blue lasers from Wicked Lasers, turning them into… well, lightsabers. Now you can truly feel the power of the force. The only thing that we don’t have here is the classic lightsaber sound, which we can easily forgive because this is frakkin amazing.

These lightsaber replacements seem to light up and down smoothly, just like in the movies, thanks to “an ultra smooth magnetic gravity system.” Just shut up and take my money now.

[via Wired via Ubergizmo]

Star Wars Wedding Band is 50% Lightsaber, 50% Vader, 100% Awesome

Conner Flynn — Tue, 27 Mar 2012 20:30:33 +0000

You might remember Homer Liwag from the Indiana Jones ring that he had made for his girlfriend. Well, that wasn’t the only ring he created. This one is a Star Wars themed wedding band that’s part lightsaber, and part Darth Vader’s chestplate.

Last time, there was a cute story to go along with the ring, but not this time. Is it for his girlfriend? We don’t know. We do know that it is an awesome and stylish ring. I think Homer has a big future designing geek jewelry. The detail is so nice that this thing looks like it could have been on screen in the actual movies. Maybe given to Leia from Han Solo.

This guy is making the rest of us look really bad. We all better start making cool rings for our wives and girlfriends, or Homer is going to steal all of our women.

[via The Mary Sue]

Millenium Falcon and Lightsaber Bottle Openers: Use a Little Force to Open a Beer

Technabob — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 01:00:40 +0000

When you have a pizza party, you might like to whip out your Starship Enterprise pizza wheel, but when you want to serve some cold brew along with, you need a cool bottle opener too. Han and Chewie recommend the Millenium Falcon for opening bottles at light speed.

This Millenium Falcon bottle opener is just the right thing for popping open your bottles, and for evading stormtroopers and TIE fighters while you’re at it. If blue milk came in bottles, this would definitely be the right thing to open it with – but it’ll have to do for beer and soda bottles for now. It even has a magnet on the bottom of it so you can stick it to the side of your fridge the same way Han landed it on the side of that Star Destroyer.

If you prefer to carry a weapon instead of a spacecraft, you can always go with this Lightsaber bottle opener. If one was good enough for Anakin to open up some younglings with, it’s good enough for your Bud Light. Though this one is based on Luke’s saber, not Anakin’s though.

On the plus side, it actually makes that lightsaber “swooooosh!!” startup sound when you pop the top. See?..

Both the Millenium Falcon and the Lightsaber bottle openers are available for pre-order over at Forbidden Planet now for £11.99 (~$19 USD), and they ship this Summer.

[via GeekAlerts]

Darth Maul Lightsaber Wall Sconce: Dual-Bladed Photon Fury

Jack Kieffer — Sun, 12 Feb 2012 22:00:42 +0000

The Dark Side’s take on geeky products has come just in time for the 3D release of The Phantom Menace. The Darth Maul Lightsaber Room Light is a dual-bladed device that will light up any room in your home! It can be mounted either vertically or horizontally, and gives off an eerie red Dark Side glow.

The Darth Maul Lightsaber Room Light works by means of LEDs, and makes Jedi quake in its presence. FEAR ME AND MY PHOTONS, JEDI. Plus, if you leave it on for a really really really long time, you might just be able to use it like a real lightsaber! You also might be able to accidentally burn down your house while playing with a collector’s lamp. Whoops.

It sells for $40 (USD), and is available from Barnes and Noble, that place that sells books (and Nooks.) “Why do they have a giant Star Wars lamp?” They probably figured out that nobody likes reading anymore. Let’s be honest – if you’re reading this sentence, you’re one of the few. Everybody else just looks at the pictures, clicks the Tweet button, and moves on to the next post with pretty lights in it.

If you’re looking for more geeky Star Wars light sources, you should hop on over to the Star Wars Lightsaber Lighted Sneakers and the Light Up Star Wars Poker Set.

Contributor Jack Kieffer owns Cool Gizmo Toys, a blog that rants about random geeky products.

Course of the Force: A Relay Race with Lightsabers!

Shane McGlaun — Sat, 11 Feb 2012 17:00:30 +0000

Let’s be honest, not much will get your average geek to run. I mean, the typical things such as free smartphones, hot chicks in skimpy Comic-Con costumes, and obviously nachos will do the trick. You might be inclined to take a run for charity but lack the motivation. When you toss in costumes and lightsabers, I’ll start looking for my running shoes.

This may well be the most awesome foot race in the history of foot races and it is called Course of the Force. It’s like those relay races your coach forced on you back in high school, but instead of small metal batons that you may or may not dream about beating your coach with, you get freaking lightsabers. And you get to keep those limited edition sabers, assuming you don’t fall and break yours in a pothole.

Basically, this is a charity event where geeks purchase quarter-mile slots of time that they will run carrying their lightsaber. The event spans from July 7th through 11th, between Santa Monica and San Diego, leading right up to Comic-Con. Funds collected will benefit the Make A Wish Foundation.

You don’t have to dress up to participate, but it is highly encouraged. I would love to see some guy dressed like Darth Maul panting and sweating profusely as he runs up the Southern California coast wielding a dual-blade lightsaber. This thing should be epic, check out the video and reserve your spot here.

[via Nerdist]

Star Wars Lightsaber Lighted Sneakers: May the Force Be with Shoes

Conner Flynn — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:00:56 +0000

If you are going to buy your young child these awesome lightsaber sneakers by Stride Rite, I only ask that you shield them from the prequels and treat the original trilogy as sacred. These sneakers feature real light-up lightsabers on each one. One for the Jedi and the other for the Sith.

Sadly these are for toddlers and small kids only. You get a blue lightsaber on one foot and a red one on the other. These sneakers make light-up shoes cool again, and are perfect for your young Jedi (or Sith) in training. The Force will be with them. Always. Or until they outgrow them at least. They only come in toddler size 8.5 to size 3W. A pair costs about $50 to $56(USD) and you can find them on Amazon.

[via BuzzFeed]

Lightsaber Table Lamps Put Darth Vader and Anakin on the Light Side of the Force

Technabob — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 17:00:27 +0000

These woudn’t be the first lightsaber lamps that I’ve come across over the years. As a matter of fact, they’re not even the first lightsaber table lamps I’ve seen. But what’s cool about these ones is that they really look like the actual lightsabers from the movies, not some cheap plastic replicas.

The base of each of these 26 inch-tall lamps is a perfect replica of either the lightsaber donned by Anakin Skywalker, or the one Darth Vader later carried. The Anakin design features the symbol of the Jedi Knights on it, while the Vader one has the Empire’s seal. Both project the pattern onto the wall surrounding the shade, which makes for a cool effect too. Of course, you’ll want to go with a blue bulb for the Jedi, and a red bulb for the Empire.

You can find both the Anakin and Darth Vader lightsaber lamps from Firebox, where they’re available for pre-order now for about $110(USD) . They expect to ship in “8+” weeks, which could mean you’ll have one by April, or it could mean 100 years from now. Also, since they’re being sold in the UK, you’ll probably need to swap out the power cord or go with a power-converter to use them outside of England.

Star Wars’ Old Republic Forces Its Way Into Times Square

Range — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:00:20 +0000

I’ve seen loads of different Star Wars promos over the years, but this epic Star Wars battle is a pretty good one. To celebrate the official launch of BioWare’s Star Wars: The Old Republic video game, EA set an army of Jedi and Sith loose on Times Square, lightsabers in hand.

This battle between good and evil was staged on Tuesday, December 20th, 2011, and involved about 100 or so people having a good old lightsaber-battle. Of course, the Jedi had blue sabers and the Sith donned red ones.

It must have been pretty awesome to witness up close, especially if you’re a Star Wars fan. Would you have wanted to be a Jedi or a Sith?

All that’s left to decide is how you’re going to fit in enough time to mess with The Old Republic while still playing Skyrim 100 hours a month.

[via My Modern Met]

Would-be Sith Lord Assaults People with Lightsabers in Toys R Us

Conner Flynn — Sun, 18 Dec 2011 21:00:04 +0000

A man armed with two lightsabers went a little crazy in Toys R Us in Hillsboro, Portland, Oregon. It’s not clear whether 33 year-old David Allen Canterbury, who assaulted people with toy lightsabers at Toys R Us, was working alone, or if he had a Sith Master. Always two there are.

Anyway, someone called 911. Officers tried to arrest the man, but he kept swinging the lightsabers at them. One tried to use his Taser but the device didn’t work. This was likely the result of his force powers. Another officer successfully used his Taser, but the lightsaber deflected the wires.

Eventually he was arrested and taken to a hospital for a mental evaluation. I have heard that some of the hospital staff claim to have seen him talking with holograms. I wonder if he was asking for Obi Wan Kenobi’s help.

[via Oregon Live]

Lightsaber Tie Tacks Keep Your TIE from Fighting

Technabob — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 23:56:45 +0000

What’s a Jedi or Sith to do the next time they get invited to a formal dinner party, like the one that Lando Calrissian threw on Bespin? Well if you want to look good for the Dark Lord, you’ll need to look stylish and make sure your tie stays put, right?

Thanks to the fine folks at Japan’s Kotobukiya, that’s now a possibility, as they’ve just released these awesome lightsaber tie tacks. They’re based on either Darth Vader or Luke Skywalker’s saber handles, and are nicely detailed and cast in plated brass.

At this point, they’re only available in Japan, but I did find both the Vader and Skywalker variants over on Amazon Japan for ￥3,455 each (~$40 USD) if you want to give them a whirl – I’m just not sure if they ship worldwide. Oh, and if you need a tie to go with…

[via Japan Star Wars]

Lightsaber Candlestick: The Force Burns Brightly with This One

Technabob — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 01:56:13 +0000

I’m not sure whether to file this one under “why didn’t somebody think of that before” or “does the world need another piece of Star Wars merch?” so I’ll file it away under both categories for now.

ThinkGeek has just announced the exclusive new Star Wars Lightsaber Candlestick, which is… exactly as it sounds.

This candlestick is a perfect replica of Darth Vader’s lightsaber – other than the part where it stands up on your dining table and holds a candle instead of emitting a plasma blade. Other than that, it’s identical.

It’s made out of cast zinc-alloy and chrome-plated, and does unscrew from the stand – but I don’t recommend waving around a lit lightsaber, unless you want to burn your enemies out of revenge for being left lying in flaming lava on Mustafar. They’re also kind enough to include three tall red candles, which is the only way to go with Darth’s Saber.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

ThinkGeek says the Lightsaber Candlestick will ship in early December, just in time for holiday gift-giving, and it will sell for $39.99 (USD). Hit them up here if you want to get on the e-mail notification list.

Tokyo Subway Gets Lightsaber Handrails

Conner Flynn — Fri, 23 Sep 2011 11:30:11 +0000

Tokyo is crazy about Star Wars. We knew that much already, but now they have gone and made the handrails in their subway cars look like lightsabers, in honor of the Blu-Ray release of the Star Wars saga.

Now every Tokyo commuter can feel like a Jedi on their way to and from work. Years from now we will still be bitching about the changes that George Lucas makes with every release, but at least those in Tokyo will have fond memories of wielding fake lightsabers, while they hold their briefcase in the other hand.

The rails were made-over with simple wraparound decals, but they look amazingly accurate, as if the poles had really been replaced by lightsabers. Great job of marketing the new Blu-ray release. Now please, no more changes. I just want to watch the original un-retouched versions.

[Japan Trends and Flickr via NewLaunches via OhGizmo!]

BT Tower Turned into World’s Largest Lightsaber

Conner Flynn — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 20:48:34 +0000

To celebrate the release of the Star Wars Saga on Blu-Ray, last week BT Tower in London was turned into the largest lightsaber ever constructed. This is a lightsaber for the gods and may they have mercy on any mortals who get in their way.

Forget about the fact that George Lucas keeps changing things in our beloved original trilogy. Forget that Han shot first. We can at least all agree that this is frakking cool.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Anthony Daniels, C-3PO himself got to push the button that activated this amazing lightsaber. While it won’t protect Earth from invading Sith or deflect asteroids, it is a great moment in geek history.

Also present at the event were Stormtroopers, Darth Vader and other characters that we all love. Hopefully this thing won’t attract any attention from a galaxy far, far away.

[via newslite]

Stanford Engineers Create JediBot, Slowest Jedi Ever

Shane McGlaun — Tue, 19 Jul 2011 17:27:44 +0000

Some engineering students at Stanford get to take a class that might be the coolest class ever called Experimental Robotics. Being the geeks they are, some of the students opted to build a robot arm that could have a lightsaber fight with you using foam lightsabers. The bot was dubbed JediBot.

The robot makes an attack (slowly), and when the person fighting counters the attack it stops and resets for another attack. The JediBot doesn’t move nearly as fast as those Yaskawa Industrial bots that we saw fight each other with lightsabers before. This time though at least you can get in on the dueling action. You can check out the video to see just how slow the JediBot is.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Other students in the class created a burger-cooking bot and a robot that can play golf, but the JediBot is certainly the coolest of them all.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via IEEE Spectrum]

Lightsaber Corn Holder Concept: Use This Fork, Luke.

Lambert Varias — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 12:30:16 +0000

There are lightsaber chopsticks and even lightsaber spoons. Now there’s a new ~~hope~~ holder for corn-loving Star Wars fans: the Cornobi corn holder. I’m not sure I’ve ever thought of eating a lightsaber, even if it’s a rare yellow one.

The Cornobi was conceptualized by “Ideas Man” Shed Simove, who is now looking for business partners to help turn the concept into an actual product. Here’s his promotional video:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

I say why stop here? It’s a fork and barbecue stick in one. Just make different sized versions and voila! Jabba the Huttdog holder, Keboba Fett holder, Darth Mallow holder (with prongs on each end, naturally)… the possibilities are endless. Although on second thought a rubber lightsaber mold that you can insert utensils into would work too.

[via Shed Simove via That's Nerdalicious! via Nerd Approved]

Yaskawa Industrial Robots Have a Lightsaber Duel

Shane McGlaun — Thu, 12 May 2011 19:30:20 +0000

If you have ever seen an assembly line at a big plant like GM or Ford where they use lots of robots for some aspects of the build, you will have seen some bots that look like the Yaskawa Motoman robots here. These two bots are infinitely cooler than any bot with a welder or paint gun in hand.

These two Motoman bots are wielding lightsabers in a fight of Jedi bot against Sith bot. The fight starts slow motion and I wondered if that was it at first. Then they reset and take off full speed. I am impressed by the speed and agility of these bots; either could have taken out Grievous.

One of the bots uses the staff style lightsaber of Darth Maul and the other uses a traditional sword saber. Watch the video below and see all the lightsaber action you want, minus the hissing and popping from the films.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[via Akihabara News]

Lightsaber Detects Which Side of The Force You Belong On

Technabob — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 17:40:22 +0000

Whether you’re Jedi or Sith, you need a lightsaber in your bag of tricks, right? But what if you don’t know if your life’s calling is to work for the Dark Side or Light Side of the Force? Grab one of these Force detecting lightsabers, and you can find out.

After you assemble this miniature lightsaber kit, place the saber in your hand, and it’ll glow blue if you belong on the Light Side, and red if you belong on the Dark Side. I wonder what color it glows if you don’t have the force at all.

While I’m guessing it works its magic through a simple random number generator, I’d rather keep myself under the delusion that it can actually detect whether you’re good or evil.

Grab one over at the Star Wars Shop for $14.99 (USD).

Bradley Lewis’ Jedi Training is Complete

Shane McGlaun — Mon, 03 Jan 2011 22:49:03 +0000

My dad gave my son all six of the Star Wars flicks for Christmas, so over the last week we have watched them all. These aren’t the ones from when I was a kid, but the new “enhanced versions” and one of the things that sticks in my mind from Return of the Jedi is Vader telling Luke his training was complete now that he built his own lightsaber. Luke took it well, considering pops was the reason he lost his old saber (and his hand) to start with.

A geek named Bradley Lewis has completed his Jedi training as well, and he didn’t have to lose an arm to do it. The dude crafted his lightsaber using a lathe and some seriously good design work. The lightsaber he made is a replica of the one Luke had in Return of the Jedi, complete with a moving area that covers the laser thingy.

The lightsaber has a removable blade that is powered by batteries inside the custom machined handle. This saber is epic and I want one so bad. Check out the video below to see it in action and lust after one for yourself.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

[SlothFurnace via Make:]

Kinect Lightsaber Hack: First Kinect Star Wars Game (Sorta.)

Technabob — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 01:23:28 +0000

The hacking possibilities for the Xbox 360 Kinect peripheral seem to keep growing every day. The latest hack to hit the inter-pipes: the Kinect lightsaber.

Yankeyan used the OpenKinect drivers, along with image processing, tracking and rendering by OpenCV to create this great real-time lightsaber effect on his PC. All he has to do is pick up a wooden stick, and the Kinect tracks its position and the image processing software adds the lightsaber effect.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Hopefully, LucasArts will oblige us with the same when their Star Wars Kinect game comes out next year. For now, Yankeyan’s hack will have to tide us over.