Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Back in the 1970s, there was a ridiculous pair of pimp shoes which had goldfish in their see-through heels. Now, there’s a modern take on that design which lets you fill up the bottom of your shoes with whatever strikes your fancy.

One of the most pesky and persistent enemies in the Super Mario universe is the Piranha Plant. These little buggers like top pop up and chomp down on your butt just when you think you can get across a jump.

If you’re going to have to wear a face mask to keep from spreading germs, it might as well be something interesting, right? Well, I can’t think of anything better than this Alien facehugger mask to prevent the your nose and mouth droplets from escaping and infecting others.

Up until now, I thought the weirdest musical instrument was either the theramin or the otamatone. But I was wrong. This. This is the weirdest musical instrument ever. This curious looking pile of grey fur isn’t a cat that’s been flattened by a steamroller.

If you look back at the history of adventure video games, some of the best and most memorable were developed by Tim Schaffer and his company Double Fine Productions. Now, you can own a great collection of their games for not much money, all while supporting charity.

Having cut my teeth on computers back in the 1980s, I have a very soft spot in my heart for the aesthetics of the era. I also happen to be a fan of clicky mechanical keyboards.

Are you in need of a creepy robot centipede? Sure, we all are. Well, here ya go. Japanese toy maker Tamiya now sells a wonderfully weird centipede robot construction kit. It’s pretty creepy, and pretty awesome. 

Did you know that on Gallifrey, all cats roam free? Well, you shouldn’t, since I just made that up. But I have it on good authority that the next time the good Doctor regenerates, he’s going to be turned into a cat.

Normally, printers are designed to print on flat sheets of paper. But this ingenious little gadget can print on smooth, curved, or bumpy surfaces, and all kinds of materials, including wood, metal, fabric, rocks, or even your skin.

Back before COVID-19, I used to love going to the massage therapist to have the knots and kinks worked out of my perpetually stiff back. Now, the idea of being locked in a room with a virtual stranger putting their hands all over me is kind of worrisome.

Since it first landed on the scene back in 2014, the Apple Pencil and its successor Apple Pencil 2 have brought a tremendous amount of creative freedom and expression to the iPad. Now, it appears that a future Apple Pencil might add a great new feature, the ability to sample colors from the real world.

As vehicles increasingly become showcases for technology on wheels, autonomous driving is becoming closer to a reality – especially for commercial purposes. We’ve been seeing ride-hailing services and delivery companies testing out self-driving vehicles for a while now.

When it comes to Star Wars movies, many of us agree that The Empire Strikes Back was still the best of the nine film Skywalker Saga. Among its many contributions to the lore of Star Wars were the tauntauns that Luke and Han rode around in the snow on Hoth.

Sparkling water usually comes in zesty flavors like lemon, lime, grapefruit, or cherry. While I do love me some marshmallows, the idea of bubble water that tastes like the sugary treat seems a little odd to me.

Spring is sprung, da grass is riz, I wonder where dem boidies is? Well, actually, it’s the sweaty, 90º+ part of summer here at the moment, but after seeing these adorable papercraft birds, I couldn’t get that old poem out of my head.

Strapping a GoPro onto your pet can result in some pretty amusing video footage. But what if you prefer insects to mammals? There’s no way you could fit a regular action camera onto one of those, unless it’s one of those giant bird-eating spiders you find in South America maybe.