Category: Just Plain Fun

When I came across this Guitar Hero controller made out of LEGO blocks, I was impressed. But once I found out it was fully-functional, I was blown away. Built by LEGO fanatic David McNeely (aka Blue Star LEGOs), this is the third in his series of working Guitar Hero controllers. Modeled after a Fender Geddy Lee Jazz four-string Bass guitar, the controller uses the electronic guts of a standard GH guitar, placed delicately inside of a LEGO body. Every part of the controller works just like the original, including the fret buttons, strum bar, whammy bar and control buttons. Now all David needs to do is build a complete Rock Band LEGO edition.

Other than the Noah Wyle with long hair and a beard look-alike dude modeling this outfit, I’m not sure who’d actually wear this ridiculously over-the-top Pac-Man themed hoodie. The lightweight black jacket has pretty much every available surface covered with a Pac-Man maze print, leaving little question that the wearer is a complete dork.

This computer has to be the biggest hunk of junk I’ve ever seen. Cobbled together from cardboard, red duct tape and embellished with a Sharpie, the UbuntuBox V1.0 certainly won’t win any awards for build quality. According to the builder, the guts of the old Pentium 3 tower are being used to power this Ubuntu Linux computer.

The guys over at Evil Mad Scientist Labs created these wacky stickers that you can slap on the boxes from your gadgets, video games and software. The labels say “Now Slower and with More Bugs”, making them perfect on a copy of Windows Vista or maybe even Mac OS X Leopard.

If you’ve got a really cruel streak, here’s a new prank for your arsenal of practical jokes. This may look like an ordinary car keychain remote, but it won’t actually open any vehicle. Instead, it lets out a tiny jolt of electricity when your unsuspecting victim presses the wrong button. The thing that makes me a bit nervous about this gag is that the company who makes them says there’s a laser pointer built into it, but it’s broken out of the box.

Now you can combine two of your favorite addictions, video games and sugar in one delicious package. The hyperglycemics over at Candy Addict (who knew such a blog existed?) recently stumbled upon this Wii-mote controller, chock-full of tasty confectionery goodness. The candy-filled remote is made by a Au’some Candies, known also for cranking out other Nintendo-inspired treats like a Gamecube stuffed with sweets, a GBA brimming with bon-bons, and these awesome fruit-flavored Mario, Donkey Kong, Zelda and Yoshi Jelly Pops.

These radio-controlled helicopters are small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. The choppers come in a matched pair that can run on different frequencies, so you can have mini-dogfights with your friends. Pressing a button on the remote can fire an invisible IR beam at your opponent’s helicopter, making it start to spin out of control.

What do you get when you combine a skateboard wheel, a length of PVC pipe, a driveway marker, a handful of screws, a bolt, washers and nuts, and some Gorilla Tape? Not much, until you throw an awesome new wearable camcorder in the mix.

Here’s an ingenius little invention for all you boozehounds out there. Imagine if you will, sitting at your neighborhood watering hole, when the bartender sees a little flashing light out of the corner of his eye and just knows it’s time to refill your cocktail. That’s just what these coasters do.

Here’s a fun little holiday project for you mechanically-inclined folks out there. This strange looking contraption connects to your computer and rings a little bell every time a visitor hits your website. With a few bucks worth of off the shelf parts, an Arduino board, a USB cable and a little code, you too can have one for your website, thanks to this detailed “how-to” article over on Tinkerlog.

This has gotta be the coolest Christmas tree I think I’ve ever seen. Pac-Man and his ghostly pals have been reproduced in this giant holiday light display. The “tree” features a fully-animated version of the classic arcade game, rendered across thousands of colored LEDs. From what I can tell (my Spanish isn’t that great), its currently on display in downtown Madrid at Nuevos Ministerios.

I know, it doesn’t sound like the math would work, but somehow that equation actually holds up in this case. Stay with me while I elaborate. You see, this art installation is the latest from the famous French street artist who goes by the moniker Space Invader.

Ah, the power of Windows Vista. Check out this recent screen capture of the progress dialog that appeared when an unsuspecting Vista user tried to burn 15 megabytes of files to a DVD RW drive. So if I’m doing my math right, the disk will be completed in 2138, a little over 130 years from now.

This simple, clever mug automatically indicates its current state of mind when you pour a hot beverage into it. In its dormant state, the mug offers a black “OFF” display, but once your hot coffee or tea hits the inside, it gradually transforms to read “ON”.

You’ve gotta hand it to the Etch-A-Sketchist. The stuff he’s able to pull off with his little red sketch toy always blows my mind. One of his latest creations is everyone’s favorite little plumber, Mario. Other recent drawings from the master of metallic filings include such pop icons as Hall and Oates, Master Chief, and the Don’t Tase Me ‘Bro dude.

Don’t expect to crack these fortune cookies open to predict your future. Just like the real deal, they don’t taste very good either. But they will store your files and keep them safe. The latest in the “Freshly Baked” series of USB flash storage devices from Vavolo, the fortune cookies come in both 1GB ($29.99)