Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Do you have a path or driveway that gets really dark when the sun goes down? You could install traditional path lighting to help guide your way, or you could make the ground beneath your feet glow in the dark, which looks much, much cooler if you ask me.

If you really want to stand out at a rave, you dress up in fluorescent colors and then stand under the black lights. But if you want to take your illumination to 11, there’s a new material that could up your visibility even more.

Normally, printed circuit boards are green and rectangular or square in shape. But these unique circuit boards come in colors like yellow, orange, and blue. Beyond being colorful, they’re designed to be taken apart and assembled into wonderful little robots.

Back in the 1970s, there was a ridiculous pair of pimp shoes which had goldfish in their see-through heels. Now, there’s a modern take on that design which lets you fill up the bottom of your shoes with whatever strikes your fancy.

One of the most pesky and persistent enemies in the Super Mario universe is the Piranha Plant. These little buggers like top pop up and chomp down on your butt just when you think you can get across a jump.

If you’re going to have to wear a face mask to keep from spreading germs, it might as well be something interesting, right? Well, I can’t think of anything better than this Alien facehugger mask to prevent the your nose and mouth droplets from escaping and infecting others.

Up until now, I thought the weirdest musical instrument was either the theramin or the otamatone. But I was wrong. This. This is the weirdest musical instrument ever. This curious looking pile of grey fur isn’t a cat that’s been flattened by a steamroller.

If you look back at the history of adventure video games, some of the best and most memorable were developed by Tim Schaffer and his company Double Fine Productions. Now, you can own a great collection of their games for not much money, all while supporting charity.

Having cut my teeth on computers back in the 1980s, I have a very soft spot in my heart for the aesthetics of the era. I also happen to be a fan of clicky mechanical keyboards.

Are you in need of a creepy robot centipede? Sure, we all are. Well, here ya go. Japanese toy maker Tamiya now sells a wonderfully weird centipede robot construction kit. It’s pretty creepy, and pretty awesome. 

Did you know that on Gallifrey, all cats roam free? Well, you shouldn’t, since I just made that up. But I have it on good authority that the next time the good Doctor regenerates, he’s going to be turned into a cat.

Normally, printers are designed to print on flat sheets of paper. But this ingenious little gadget can print on smooth, curved, or bumpy surfaces, and all kinds of materials, including wood, metal, fabric, rocks, or even your skin.

Back before COVID-19, I used to love going to the massage therapist to have the knots and kinks worked out of my perpetually stiff back. Now, the idea of being locked in a room with a virtual stranger putting their hands all over me is kind of worrisome.

Since it first landed on the scene back in 2014, the Apple Pencil and its successor Apple Pencil 2 have brought a tremendous amount of creative freedom and expression to the iPad. Now, it appears that a future Apple Pencil might add a great new feature, the ability to sample colors from the real world.

As vehicles increasingly become showcases for technology on wheels, autonomous driving is becoming closer to a reality – especially for commercial purposes. We’ve been seeing ride-hailing services and delivery companies testing out self-driving vehicles for a while now.

When it comes to Star Wars movies, many of us agree that The Empire Strikes Back was still the best of the nine film Skywalker Saga. Among its many contributions to the lore of Star Wars were the tauntauns that Luke and Han rode around in the snow on Hoth.