recycle on technabob...

It’s already pretty awesome to get a gold medal. Really – it means that for at least one day, you were the best in the world at something, and there’s no arguing with that. But Olympic medals have become increasingly more beautiful, too, and the medals for the 2010 Vancouver winter games are no exception……

Ah, game cartridges. They can bring so much joy… and take up so much space. And sure, you could save ‘em forever, clearing space to keep all those boxes and carts… or you could brutally gut them and turn them into something else. A clock, say.

Can’tAffordEmCrafts, an Etsy storefront, has several of those former-Atari-cartridges…

A Transformers backpack is a pretty cool project on its own. When said Transformers backpack is created out of seatbelts, however, then you’re on a whole other level.

The backpack is a thing of beauty, with buckles and all, as well as an interior lined with Transformers fabric. Creative–and appropriate–repurposing.

Can you believe this has…

Remember those wooden Jacob’s Ladder toys you played with when you were a kid? You know, the kind where you flip the top block over, and then all of the other clacky blocks flip over on themselves?  Here’s a clever modern take on the old wooden toy.

Created by artist ZacharyBear, this Jacob’s Ladder is…

Raise your hand if you don’t have or have access to an old keyboard. If you didn’t raise your hand, I’m pretty sure you’re an alien. For the rest of us… what’s a girl to do with all those old keyboards? They gather so much dust! But if you’re creative enough, you can turn ‘em into…

We featured a chair made of recycled CDs a while back; I’m pretty sure that chair will carve markings on your ass after just ten minutes of sitting. I’d rather sit on this computer keyboard armchair. It’s equally geeky but far more comfortable. I think. “Sit on a keyboard” is a thought that never crossed…

Here in Chicago, we just got started with a city-sponsored neighborhood recycling program. While they’ll collect and re-purpose much of your post-consumer waste, electronics aren’t on the pick-up list. But if you’re a gadget addict like me, you probably go through batteries like they’re going out of style. So while I can’t recycle my discarded…

I’m a sucker for robots – and I love cool lamps. So when I saw these cool robotic sculptures that light up, I just had to write about them.

Handcrafted by Pennsylvania artist Toby Atticus Fraley, these robot sculptures are assembled from vintage found objects (aka “Junque”), and lovingly reconfigured by Fraley to form one-of-a-kind…

Got a bunch of old electronic parts lying around? While they might end up in the trash heap for many of us, artist Ann P. Smith sees new life in old junk.

Smith takes broken down electronics and machine parts to create her amazing menagerie of animal and insect sculptures.

While they aren’t mechanical works…

If you don’t happen to have enough room for one of those 22-foot tall styrofoam robots to defend the homestead, that’s okay. Thanks to the wild and wonderful creations of robot insect builder TinyMinds, you can get your hands on some little robots which should do the trick just as well.

Whether its the flapping…

Got a broken old iPod lying around? Besides dropping it in the dumpster, what else can you do with it? Well if you’re like this resourceful modder, you turn it into a mouse.

After stefferroo’s brother dropped his iPod under his car and then proceeded to run it over, it was surely headed for the…

What did the big robot say to the little robot? “Get in me belly!” At least that’s the way this amazing automaton works. The larger-than-life wood and metal robot features a tiny little robot inside its gut, and it looks like he’s the real brains of the operation.

Little Big Man 2008 is the offspring of…