Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Summer is almost over, but I’m sure your kids would love to run around under a sprinkler until the snow hits the ground. I can think of no better way to keep kids saturated with a constant stream of water but with a 7-foot-tall inflatable dinosaur lawn sprinkler.

Short Circuit is one of those classic movies that every self-respecting geek should see at some point in their lives. After all, the star of the show is Number 5, aka Johnny 5, a charming and inquisitive robot who craves input and understanding from the human world.

So you’ve collected all of your 1-up, fireball, and super-growth mushrooms in the real world. Now it’s time to chop them up and throw them on a pizza. Don’t use just any cutting board. Use this awesome NES Cartridge cutting board from CuttingBoredom.

Most people treat squirrels like unwanted pests. But if you’re among the animal lovers who prefer to feed the squirrels in your yard, you might want to get a squirrel feeder. And if you love classic arcade games, you’ll want to get this squirrel feeder that looks like a miniature arcade cabinet.

Having grown up in the 1980s, I have a real fondness for pixel art. There are lots of ways to make pixel art of your own these days beyond using programs like Deluxe Paint, from melting Perler beads together to making images with 1×1 LEGO bricks.

The driver in a speaker cabinet that puts out the low frequencies is called a “woofer” or a “subwoofer,” but I’m guessing this 3″ long wiener dog speaker is more about his charm and cute looks than his abilities to produce deep bass.

When Tim Burton’s Batman came out in 1989, I thought it was the best version of Batman yet. Michael Keaton made a great Bruce Wayne, Jack Nicholson was an awesome Joker, and Burton’s dark vision of Gotham was a fresh take compared to the campy 1960s Batman I grew up with on TV.

The first time I had an electronic gadget that I could see inside of without cracking it open was the original iMac G3. With its semi-transparent colored backside, you could barely make out the electronic components inside, and even then, most of them were hidden beneath massive RF shielding.

Halloween isn’t far off, so it doesn’t hurt to start shopping now before all of the good stuff is sold out. While your kids might already have ideas for costumes, I bet their trick-or-treat pumpkins aren’t being given the slightest thought.

Wakka Wakka Wakka, Everything is Awesome! It’s LEGO Pac-Man time! Do you love retro arcade games and LEGO bricks? Well, then, you’ll love this LEGO Pac-Man display that moves when you turn its crank. The 1603-piece set was designed by LiteBricks and submitted to LEGO Ideas.

I was a big fan of the original Hellboy movies with Ron Perlman as our cigar-chomping red hero. But as much as I enjoyed that series, I’ve never delved deep into the comics, so I’m not too familiar with Hellgirl.

Bread was meant to be eaten, right? Well, what if your bread had four legs and was kind of adorable? Would you become gluten-free right then and there? I might think twice, but probably not. These wacky toys are based on the concept of “Living bread.”

Who doesn’t look at a watermelon and instantly think Venom? It’s hard not to, right? Well instead of just thinking it, Italian sculptor Valeriano Fatica went and made our collective thoughts reality, carving Venom’s head out of a watermelon.

Crocodiles: you can easily tell them apart from alligators based on whether you’ll see them later or after a while. Plus alligators have broad, flat heads with only their top teeth visible when their mouths are closed, and crocodiles have pointed snouts with all teeth visible all the time.

Because nothing says I think it’s time for a drink like being reminded you have children and their toys are spread all over the house just waiting to be stepped on, barware manufacturer Foster & Rye is selling this Army Man Bottle Holder (affiliate link), a wine bottle holder in the form of a green army man holding a bazooka.

Stress: it’s a silent killer. Ninjas too. And what better way to relieve a little stress and anxiety than popping bubble wrap? Introducing the ∞ Bubble Wrap AIR from Bandai (affiliate link), an electronic device that mimics the popping of bubble wrap, with just the right amount of tactile pressure needed to press a bubble, resulting in a satisfying “POP” from the integrated speaker.