Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

There are monsters all around us, and they’re hiding in plain sight. It looks like some of them even like hanging out in the women’s accessories department now. These awesomely creative and creepy clutch purses come from the mind of Breanne of Creature Clutches and The Geekstress.

I’ve tried playing the guitar on a few occasions in my life, but I always got frustrated with proper fret placement that I like to blame on my fat fingers rather than my lack of coordination.

Are you feeling lonely sleeping in your bed alone? Scared somebody might be climbin’ in your windows and snatchin’ you up at night? Well you need a gorilla in your bed! Japanese outfit You+More’s gorilla pillow is the perfect addition to any bed, offering up a comforting arm and huge pectoral muscles for you to rest your weary head on.

I always thought the point of a drone was so it could fly around and do its work without having to touch the ground. But engineers from Caltech’s Center for Autonomous Systems & Technologies (CAST) have been working on an unusual drone which actually has legs. The LEONARDO (LEg ON Aerial Robotic DrOne) uses its upper body thrust to stand upright, while a pair of jointed limbs at its bottom help it to walk along flat surfaces. 

Why did Batman sit on his watch? He wanted to be on time. (Ba-dum-bum.) Like most of the Joker’s jokes, there’s nothing funny about the seriously intricate Swiss-made timepieces from RJ: two DC Comics watches featuring Batman foes The Joker and Two-Face.

These days, lots of people are replacing their bedside clocks with smartphones or other mobile gadgets which keep time. But there’s something about being able to just open an eyeball in the middle of the night and glance at the time that makes me still prefer a standalone clock.

Didja know October is Eat Country Ham Month? Me neither. But clearly such an important holiday deserves a theme song. Enter Meat Parade, a retro-style novelty record that cheerfully declares “With bacon, knockwurst, ham or lamb – you’ll never beat that meat!”

Growing up, I always thought taking a chemistry class would be awesome. I figured that it would be all fun and games making stuff that oozed and blew up. Once I grew up and went to college, I finally took a chemistry class.

Does your dog love plush chew toys? Then let your pooch get prehistoric with this adorably silly set of squeaky dinosaurs which poke their heads out of a plush volcano. Available from Chewy, the $15.99 set includes an 8.5″

If you’ve never seen The Creature from the Black Lagoon, you owe it to yourself to check out this classic monster movie. I like to think of the fish creature in Jack Arnold’s 1954 popcorn flick as the progenitor for the amphibian man in Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water. 

Until I saw this picture, I wanted one of those Big Ass Fans to hang on my ceiling. But now that I’ve seen this awesome Star Wars fan – made by a Star Wars fan, I want one of these instead.

Nearly everyone has something in common with Nickelodeon’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: a passion for pizza. Why not express that thin-crust love with “the World’s Most Awesome Pizza Machine,” a simple non-stick appliance to cook frozen or fresh pizzas and quesadillas.

Are your dreams just too pleasant? Sleeping like a baby through the night? Well clearly, you need a little nightmare fuel to help spark your subconscious. This Beetlejuice Sandworm mood light should do the trick just fine. Inspired by the terrifying, multi-mouthed worm that rises from the sands in the Tim Burton’s classic 1988 dark comedy, this battery-powered accent lamp is sure to inspire some strange thoughts as you drift off to slumberland.

Do you have a neighbor who likes to steal the parking space in front of your house? Well, have I got the ultimate deterrent for you! All you need is a gigantic, car-crushing mech to stand guard on your front lawn, and they’re sure to stay away.

Robots usually have either legs or wheels to move them around. But this unusual robot has both. Its builders say the combination provides it with greater versatility than other quadruped robots, and from the looks of the video footage engineer Marko Bjelonic shared, I’d have to agree. PhD research Bjelonic and engineers from ETH Zurich and the CERBERUS team worked together to create ANYmal, an autonomous robot with four legs and motorized wheels at their tips.

Hitmakers headline the new concert stage every week at SoCal’s popular Pechanga Resort Casino in Temecula wine country. But the five-star getaway’s real star is Buddy, the first autonomous security robot in the country to patrol a casino.