Gadgets, Gizmos, and Games for Geeks

Because most computing technology is notoriously earth-unfriendly with its inability to be reused or recycled, researchers at the State University of New York at Binghamton have developed circuit boards printed on paper that can be safely disposed of after a single use, either by burning or naturally biodegrading.

Participating in the Downtown Benicia Main Street Scarecrow Contest, bakers Hanalee Pervan and her mother Catherine of One House Bakery in Benicia, California, created this lifesize ‘Pan Solo in Carbonite’ bread sculpture. Did it win the contest?

Inspired by the scene from The Exorcist that kept me up countless nights when I was a child because I watched the movie entirely too young at a sleepover, this pewter bottle pourer features the likeness of Regan MacNeil projectile vomiting.

Because who didn’t get into puzzles or model building during the pandemic (I got into miniature ships myself), the $55 ROKR Tilt-A-Whirl is a DIY music box wooden puzzle kit from the company’s Magic Amusement Park series.

Anxiety: we all experience it. And what better way to help alleviate that feeling than with a 3D-printed, articulated fidget slug? I can’t think of anything. Granted, I’m not trying to think of anything, but I have to save my brainpower for more important things like what’s for lunch.

Originally created as places for monks to meditate on Buddha’s teachings, Zen gardens have been miniaturized and available in desktop versions for quite some time now. Just not in interplanetary form, like this Mars Zen Garden available from Uncommon Goods.

Because there will never be enough Star Wars merchandise in the world, Merchoid is selling this The Good, The Bad, And The Ugly-inspired stormtrooper statue. Complete with a cowboy hat and poncho, this stormtrooper is clearly ready to set out on his trusty steed (read: speeder bike) and seek his fortune.

Because with enough liquid resin, anything is possible, YouTuber buildxyz constructed his dream standing desk by encasing printed circuit boards (PCBs) in clear plastic. What a beauty. As I’m sure Indiana Jones would agree, it belongs in a museum.

Because dinosaur feet make everything better (googly eyes, too, but this isn’t about them), Thingiverse user melgrubb created 3D-printed dino feet to support a flatscreen television. That’s cool, but he should have also printed little t-rex arms hugging the television from the sides.

Because you can never have too much Star Trek around the house, Corrigan Studio created this Star Trek: The Next Generation LCARS 16-Piece Dinnerware Set, available on Wayfair. For those of you unfamiliar, LCARS (Library Computer Access/Retrieval System) is the computer operating system seen in the show.

Presumably inspired by my nightmares, the Mecrob Spider Table Lamp is a metal robot spider that comes in kit form. The spider features an abdomen full of fairy lights and four spotlight-style eye lights for illuminating whatever mad scientist project you’re currently working on.

Because when it comes to computing, there’s always room for unimprovement, Google Japan has created a 5.4-foot long keyboard with all the keys in a single row. Presumably inspired by the dancing piano keyboard scene from Big, its creators say the keyboard prevents having to look in every direction for the key you need since it can only be left or right and not up or down.

The brainchild of Matthias Werner, the HDD Clicker 2.0 is a tiny computer board that attaches to your solid state drive (SSD) and makes it sound like an old platter-style hard disk drive (HDD). And it doesn’t just make the sounds all willy-nilly either; it only does it when your hard drive is actually reading or writing.

Inspired by the deep sea angler fish, these slides from HelloSlippers feature a cartoon version of the goofy-looking fish, complete with a glow-in-the-dark lure dangling above your feet. Granted, I’m not sure what you’re going to catch wearing these at night, but I’d count my toes afterward.

Because who can be bothered to manually adjust their desk lamp (what are we, peasants?), the Werobot Pino Lamp on Kickstarter is an intelligent robotic auto-tracking lamp that can follow book pages, your face, or certain colors to ensure they’re always well illuminated.

In Back to the Future, Marty loved to play the guitar. I’m thinking if he ever asked Doc Brown to make him a musical instrument, it might have looked like this. Sure, he’d have to learn to play the bass, but I’m sure he’d be fine with that.