Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

I have a very soft spot in my heart for pixel art, having grown up in the 1980s with rudimentary 8-bit and 16-bit video games dominating my formative years. So I really love anything that encourages the creation of pixel-based designs.

With their big brains, eight tentacles, and lots of suckers, octopi are pretty amazing animals. But like most things with more than four legs, they can also look quite weird. If you think it would be cool to hang out with an octopus all the time, check out this crazy looking bag.

If Elon Musk and Tesla live up to their promises, it shouldn’t be more than a couple of years before we start seeing Cybertrucks on the street. But if you don’t have the money or the patience for the real deal, you can at least have a miniature Cybertruck for your desktop.

Did you ever see the Black Mirror episode called “Arkangel?” Basically, it tells the story of an overly-cautious mother who has a chip implanted in her daughter’s brain so she can track her every movement. But she also upgrades it with a couple of features, like the ability to see everything she sees, and to block out images of anything that might be deemed “shocking.”

Are you ready to jump to hyperspace without leaving your neighborhood block party? Well, now you can, thanks to the release of this new bouncy house that looks just like the Millennium Falcon. Created by bouncy house experts Magic Jump, the Millennium Falcon Hyperspace Jump Experience is a 35 foot-wide inflatable that’s sure to be a hit at any Star Wars-themed party.

LEGO models can represent all kinds of different things, both imaginary and real. But this particular LEGO design takes on one of the more unpleasant sides of the real world – the seamy underbelly of society that is prison life.

Hey kids, what time is it? Better check the ping pong balls to find out! When turned off, this unique clock looks like a bunch of ping pong balls in a picture frame, but when activated, it turns into a bright and colorful digital clock.

There’s a ton of great collectible merchandise out there for fans of sci-fi, comics, and fantasy. While they’re not all perfect,  most of the merchandising tie-ins are at least somewhat logical these days. And then there’s stuff like this.

If you’ve seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, you know how intimidating that the HAL 9000 computer can be. As he loses his digital mind, the stubborn computer takes over the ship and becomes a murderer. Peering out from its singular red eyeball, HAL will kill you with his blank stare and monotone voice.

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of fun and inspired Christmas trees based on video games, science fiction and other pop culture memes. So I figured that this holiday season, I’d put together a compilation of some of my favorites of all time.

Are you the kind of person who eats at their desk and gets food all over their computer keyboard? Well, now you can have food on your keys 100% of the time, and without the pesky Cheetos’ dust and constant need for cleaning.

There are lots and lots of headphones to choose from, but if you prefer substance over style, then you’ll definitely want to check out the TMA-2, a clean and minimally designed set of headphones from Denmark outfit AIAIAI.

If you set your mind to it, you can make a lamp out of just about any material you can think of. While I was perusing the pages of Instructables, I came across this unique and eye-catching modern ceiling lamp, made almost entirely out of zip ties.

The best part of waking up is coffee in my cup… and a made-from-scratch feast to carbo-load like the Hulk. Luckily, the breakfast of champions now gets a superhero boost with the Avengers 4-Slice Waffle Maker which invites Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man, and Thor to your dining table.

Take a trip through space every time you chop onions or slice tomatoes. These awesome Cosmos kitchen knives will send you on a journey to the heavens as you brunoise, chiffonade, julienne, and macedoine your veggies.

One of the more satisfying sights in the original Star Wars trilogy was watching Imperial TIE fighters get blown to smithereens by the Rebellion. But this awesome stained glass TIE fighter lamp is one that I’d never want to see in pieces.