Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

If you ever played any of the Crash Bandicoot games, you’re familiar with the masks that float around the game. The one that offers you help and makes that great “rutabaga” sound effect is called “Aku Aku,” while the bad guy boss is called “Uka Uka.” If you dig the look of these tribal masks, and you like to sip coffee at your desk, then you should grab this official Crash Bandicoot Uka Uka mug.

The Nintendo GameCube and Wii both offered up lots of fun and classic video games. But neither console was particularly portable, so the only way you could play those games on the go would be via software emulation.

Have you ever wondered why Stormtroopers can’t hit the broad side of a barn with their blasters? Perhaps they’re not getting enough Vitamin C? Or is it that the lenses of their helmets distort their vision?

There have been lots of cool things going on to celebrate the 50th anniversary of NASA’s Apollo 11 moon landing, but this might just be the coolest. Off-road vehicle maker Polaris Industries created a virtually perfect replica of the original NASA Lunar Rover Vehicle (LRV), which first appeared on the moon in 1971.

Fans of Dragon Ball know that Frieza is kind of a jerk. After all, he’s ruler of Universe 7, and raised up an army to wreak all kinds of havoc on the Gods of the Universe.

I’m not sure what Cookie Monster did to deserve being skinned alive, but I’m guessing that he stole some chocolate chip cookies from these kids – and they were having none of that. Seriously, though, this Cookie Monster shag rug that turned up over on Instructables is awesome.

Portal and Portal 2 were two of the best games of the 21st century. While the first game was a blast to play, the latter really stepped up the humor and story development between its main characters, Chell, GLaDOS, and Wheatley.

In a quest to make virtual characters more realistic, engineers have been working on ways to make their skeletal structures and muscles more like those found in living beings. Recently, a technology was shown off which takes those simulated biological components to the next level.

Tardigrades are one of the strangest creatures known to exist. These microscopic organisms – also known lovingly as “water bears” are best known for their incredible ability to survive just about anything. Apparently, they can survive extreme temperatures, complete dehydration, and even the vacuum of space.

Over the years, the world of collectible figures has gotten more and more creative, playing with proportion, envisioning characters in cartoony forms, increasing their levels of detail and movement, and much more. And sometimes figures are just plain wackadoo, and I love them for that reason.

The dot-matrix printer may seem like a relic from the past, but just about every TV set, mobile device or laser printer still relies on creating images from a matrix of dots. They’re just smaller, and perhaps more colorful than the old Okidata Microline 320 from your youth.

As far as I know, the entire plot of Space Invaders is “increase speed, drop down, and reverse direction!” But making vapid and obtuse movies based on popular franchises is what Hollywood does best these days, so I guess I wasn’t too surprised when I heard there’s a Space Invaders movie in development.

Love the look of neon lighting, but don’t want to deal with the fragility of glass and high voltage transformers? This tubular, flexible lighting can be bent into any shape you want without risk of damage, and a lights up in any color too.

Crayon labels are kept pretty basic for a good reason. The colors really don’t need much of a description. Besides, kids don’t know what Periwinkle, Scarlet, or Aquamarine are. They just want to color between the lines in their book.

If you’ve ever wondered why it’s so important to properly pressurize and depressurize a submarine, this image should explain it for you. What you’re looking at is three identical styrofoam heads, each of which has been exposed to a different depth pressure.

Do you like Godzilla? I mean do you REALLY, REALLY like Godzilla? Then you’re going to want to start saving your money for this epic collectible from the X-PLUS Gigantic series. This monstrous PVC kaiju figure measures in at a whopping 38.19″ long, and 18.5″ tall, and will look awesome on your desktop or bookshelf – assuming you have the space for it.