Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Genius: you know it when you see it. And I saw this motorized piano BBQ grill crafted by YouTuber Handy Geng, and I knew instantly he was ahead of his time. Did he travel back from the future to showcase this marvel of modern music and grilling technology?

Let’s face it, a good book and a nice cup of coffee or tea go together like peanut butter and bananas. But where do you rest your beverage? Personally, I rest mine on my open laptop because I like to live dangerously.

Just when you thought the perfect Star Trek ugly Christmas sweater already existed (see: this ‘Trek The Halls’ ugly Christmas sweater), Numskull Designs returns with an even gaudier one in the form of this ‘Beam Me Up, Santa’ sweater.

Released by the New Zealand Mint, these 1-ounce Death Star Coins are engraved with an image of the Empire’s moon-sized superweapon on one side and Queen Elizabeth on the opposite. A nice combo. Personally, I would have gone with an Ewok on the other side to commemorate the Battle of Endor, but I wasn’t asked.

Are you a huge Nissin Cup Noodles fan? Big enough to buy a giant inflatable likeness of the product for display in your home or office? Well if you are, you’re in luck (also, a rare breed), because Nissin is selling this giant inflatable Cup Noodle through their fan store for $35.

Makers of the entirely unnecessary but absolutely wanted, Archie McPhee is selling these giant ant toys for $8. Available in a package of six, each hard vinyl insect measures 2-3/4″ long from antennae to ant butt and is sure to get a rise out of my wife when she finds them in the pantry.

Created in the likeness of the iconic characters from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Numskull is releasing this set of Star Trek CosCups, drinking cups cosplaying as Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Worf, Deanna Troi, and Geordi La Forge.

Look Mum No Computer (aka Sam Battle) clearly has some sort of strange obsession with making musical Furbys. You may recall his previously posted electronic organ created using 44 singing Furbys. I think we can all agree that is entirely too many Furbys in the same place at the same time.

Inspired by the command division’s red uniforms from Star Trek: The Next Generation, Numskull Designs has created these officially licensed ‘Trek The Halls’ ugly Christmas sweaters. Available from Just Geek for $42, the 100% knitted (not printed!)

For those of you unaware, there’s an ongoing challenge in the computing and gaming community to get Doom to run on less and less sophisticated hardware, pushing the limits of what was ever thought possible. In the near future, someone will hack an abacus to run the game.

You know what your Google Home smart device has been missing? Muscles. Mine? Mine has been missing ever being taken out of the package after I received it as a gift because I don’t like being listened to all the time.

Keeping your drink cold: it’s a necessity. Unless you’re drinking coffee or hot chocolate, then it’s the exact opposite of what I said. Besides, there’s already a coffee mug warp pipe for your hot beverage needs.

Make no bones about it, this t-rex skull tape dispenser is officially the coolest tape dispenser I’ve seen. Made and sold by Etsy shop Meow3DStore, the 3D printed dispenser is available in a variety of colors and sizes (standard is a surprisingly large 5″ x 4″ x 3.6″) and is really going to bring a touch of prehistoric times to my office, which I feel it’s been missing.

Recently, I wrote about the Thumby, a teensy Game Boy-inspired gaming system that you basically need to be Ant-Man to play. If you like the idea of a miniature Game Boy, but your thumbs aren’t small enough to play that thing, you might want to consider the ZMKC Pocket Game Console Artisan Keycap instead.

Everyone needs a faithful companion, and Perseus really lucked out in Clash of the Titans when Athena refused Zeus’s request to send the hero her own pet owl, instead offering a brass-and-iron version of Bubo she had Hephaestus construct.

Riding a motorcycle: part of the whole image is looking cool. And what’s cooler than a fuzzy Pikachu or Yoda head helmet cover? I can’t think of anything. Granted I don’t ride a motorcycle because I never learned how to ride a bicycle without training wheels, but balance is a tricky thing.