Archive for December 2018

Wanna geek up your keyboard and brush up on your intergalactic languages at the same time? For those not in the know, Aurebesh is the lettering that you see all over the Star Wars movies. Well, we have some cool news.

While the Imperial AT-AT Walker was designed as a war machine on legs, it really ended up being quite a flop due to its fatal design flaws. That said, AT-ATs do make pretty cute pets, if you housebreak them.

At last, we have something appropriate to wear with our ugly Christmas sweaters. Check out the ‘Ugly Sweater’ colorway of Brooks’ Levitate 2 running shoes. Much like ugly Christmas sweaters, you are either going to love these or hate them.

Between my electronic gadgets and pens, it’s pretty rare that I use a pencil. Sure, I’ll use colored ones to fill in the occasional cool coloring book, but for the most part, the old #2 kind gets little use around here.

Chess is a fun and challenging game that really makes you use your brain. So too are lots of video games. If you like both of these pastimes as much as I do, then check out this sweet chess set which features pieces that look like 8-bit video game pixel art. Created by Induku Designs, the set comes with everything you need to play a game on the go, including a folding board, and pieces that hold in place using cut-out notches. Each board is made from laser-cut and engraved baltic birch plywood, and held together with leather hinges and straps.

Think about classic ’80s flicks and Bettlejuice certainly comes to mind. If you are a Tim Burton fan, and the sort of host who needs note cards to thank people for coming to your ghoulish shindigs, this is the ticket. The set comes packaged in a box that looks just like the Handbook for the Recently Deceased.

Growing up, all I wanted in the world for one of my birthdays was an Optimus Prime Transformer. I got it even though it was like $20 back then, which seemed like $100 today. Hasbro’s Transformers Masterpiece Edition MP-44 Optimus Prime (ver 3.0)

Want a neat, but functional item to add to your desk? Check out this cool design for an old school microphone that’s made from cardboard, but actually works. YouTuber SKM builds lots of fun stuff from cardboard, and this is definitely one of his coolest designs.

Bose is showing off a new line of sunglasses with tiny speakers embedded in the arms. The idea is that people don’t have to wear earbuds or over-the-ear headphones to listen to their music or make a loud phone call.

Too many of today’s pranks are cruel or downright mean. I prefer old school pranks, which are a bit more lighthearted, and not likely to end with you or your victim getting a punch in the face or a kick in the groin.

I’ve never really trusted those fitness trackers. There’s just no way they can get accurate results. Actually, that’s just something I say to justify those extra doughnuts this morning. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t some validity to my concerns.

When I was a kid, nine out of ten times my mom wouldn’t let me buy a toy when we were out shopping, she would let me get a book. So, I had a legion of Little Golden Books around my house.

When it comes to piggy banks, they come in all shapes and sizes. However, there’s one thing pretty much all of them have in common – a single slot for coins. Why is this? Well, the guys at 25TOGO think it’s time for a new kind of piggy bank; one with more than two dozen coin slots. The appropriately-named “Hungry” piggy bank has 25 individual slots where you can place coins.

Walmart is always looking for ways to save, and with its $15 an hour minimum wage, it should come as no surprise that some workers are due to be replaced by automation. The first replacements were cashiers, with most Walmart locations now offering self-checkout lanes where you don’t have to listen to the cashier talk when all you want to do is pay and leave. Now it’s the custodians that are being replaced with a ride-on floor scrubber that no longer needs a person to operate it.

Last month, when fans purchased Bethesda’s Fallout 76 Power Armor Edition they felt cheated when they ended up getting a cheap nylon bag instead of the canvas bag that was initially promised. Eventually, the company responded and apologized, offering to give 500 Atoms for consumers.

I’d wager most people that played with LEGO growing up made cars and trucks with the bricks and promptly crashed them. Hammacher Schlemmer is offering a set of RC toy monster trucks which takes that idea and runs with it. Crash and Rebuild Monster Trucks aren’t made from LEGO, but they do seem LEGO-like in how the bodies and drivers click into the chassis.