Archive for November 2012

3D printing is the bee’s knees, but we’re not printing our masterpieces yet – 3D printed essays! Yeah! – because 3D printers are still quite expensive, and of course 3D modeling isn’t exactly common knowledge. Virginia Tech has a solution for the former problem: the Dream Vendor.

Cartoon characters and movies are common subjects for theme parks. Household objects are a stretch. But toilets? Now this is definitely a first. A new theme park was recently erected in Suwon, South Korea and it celebrates toilets.

Pokémon fans, here’s the ultimate in Pokéwear. The I Choose You Sweatshirt definitely chose me the minute I laid my eyeballs on it.

It’s easy to get lost during a video game adventure. Here, take this. This LEGO Hyrule map won’t fit in your pocket, but it will help you get your bearings while you seek Princess Zelda.

2D pictures are so yesterday. At least, they are in Japan. Rolling out on November 24th in Harajuku are 3D-printing photo booths called the Omote 3D.

Here in the U.S., the biggest two shopping days of the year are Black Friday and Cyber Monday, as people start to shift into the holiday gift-giving spirit  after Thanksgiving. In China, an offbeat holiday called Singles Day has become an insanely popular time for shopping.

There’s always been a lot of debate about whether letting kids play with toy guns was a good thing or not. Everyone has their own opinion on the subject, and I say we keep it that way.

Speakers are great for hearing your music, but most speakers look pretty boring. So when when you aren’t listening to music, they look terrible in your home. These Water Dancing Speakers deliver sound and are visually pleasing to look at, making the whole experience much nicer.

You find the strangest stuff over on Etsy sometimes. Like this mask which envisions a hybrid between Batman and Bane. The artist who made it likes to call it “Batbane.” I just like to call it straight-up weird.

If you’re on the go a lot, you know it’s hard to keep your gadgets charged up, especially if you use them frequently. Anyone who owns a 4G smartphone knows that if you surf the web, make a few phone calls, and update your Facebook page, you’re lucky if your device can last half a day.

Let’s be honest, Hollywood doesn’t have the best track record when it comes to adapting video game properties to movies. I’m looking directly at you Dwayne Johnson and that sorry excuse for a Doom movie. Now we have a couple more video game movies set to go into production starring some big names.

Activity tracking devices are nothing new, but the current offerings have a sporty look, which is expected but may not suit all tastes. If you’re looking for something a bit less conspicuous, check out the Misfit Shine, a new brand of booze security camera night vision goggles wireless activity tracker with a minimalist design.

A lot of people think that mobile payments is where most establishments are headed, which will eventually make credit cards obsolete. But those cards with their magnetic strips aren’t going out without a fight. How? By reinventing the cards to include a numeric keypad and an LCD screen.

Do you have empty spaces on your tree that aren’t filled with geeky ornaments? You could cut out your own paper snowflakes, or you could fill up those empty spaces with these laser-cut, acrylic Star Wars snowflake ornaments.

You’ve shared your Instagram pictures on Twitter and Facebook. You’ve sent them as actual pictures, stickers and magnets. But that’s not enough. You’re a sharing monster that can’t be stopped. Because I love monsters, here’s something to feed your desire, a tiny projector that uses 35mm film to display and embiggen your pictures. Before you can use the Projecteo, you have to use an app to pick pictures that will be “melted” in circular shape on a single frame of 35mm Kodak film.

One of the most irritating things about Apple moving from its tried-and-true 30-pin connector to the new Lightning connector is that people are being forced to buy new accessories. Accessories that use the tiny new 8-pin connector have been slow to hit the market, but JBL has announced two new audio products that are aimed at the iPhone 5, 5th-gen iPod Touch and other Apple gadgets that use the new Lightning connector.