Tag: Geeky

With Easter coming up, it’s almost egg decorating time! A few years back, LEGO builder Jason Allemann aka JK Brickworks made his own version of Evil Mad Scientist’ Eggbot using the parts that are in the LEGO Mindstorms EV3 kit 31313.

Over the years, I’ve seen a lot of fun and inspired Christmas trees based on video games, science fiction and other pop culture memes. So I figured that this holiday season, I’d put together a compilation of some of my favorites of all time.

Creative director Matthew Stevenson said that when they were kids, he and his brother were frustrated by the confusing maze that is Metroid. Recently the title’s pun with the DC Metro came to his mind, and with it his childhood frustration. 

I think the best part about being a Wookiee would be that you never have to wear fancy clothes to anything. All you need is a bandolier and maybe an occasional trip to the groomer. On the other hand, we humans do occasionally have to dress up.

This is a very cool dress. It’s varying shades of blue and black and has stars all over it. In fact some of these stars make constellations. What makes it extra cool is that the constellations glow in the dark when the lights are off.

Last year, we checked out a lightsaber replica that used a stream of flammable liquid as a substitute for the blade. The Hacksmith had a similar idea for a real life version of Psylocke’s psi-blade. But because Betsy’s blade is wider and wilder than the Jedi weapon, its maker opted to engulf a katana in flames.

YouTuber Daniel Perdomo and his friends made one of the coolest video game replicas of the year so far. It’s a physical replica of the classic game PONG. It’s basically a magnetic, mechanical version of air hockey.

Heart Machine’s critically-acclaimed action RPG Hyper Light Drifter wears its 16-bit influence on its sleeve, from its graphics to its gameplay and now to its Collector’s Edition, which comes with a decorative – i.e. empty – SNES cartridge.

Today, even single board computers are locked in an arms race of size and power. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that, but Konstantin Dimitrov thinks that for budding programmers and electronic engineers, simplicity and soul will go a long way.

Back in February, we heard about the Wooting One, a mechanical keyboard that can take analog input like the buttons on modern gamepads. Wooting recently launched the keyboard on Kickstarter, and it’s revealed that all of the peripheral’s keys will be analog, as well as a general idea of how they’re able to pull that off.

Barry Crawford said that when he was a kid, he dreamed of growing up to be a robot. Sadly, his childhood dream hasn’t come true yet. But he did become what he calls a “gizmologist”, making mechanical artworks, furniture and jewelry.

The crazy inventor Colin Furze promoted Intel’s new TV series America’s Greatest Makers by making a flamethrowing guitar and a bass that’s literally smoking. He may be a Brit, but he’s a great maker all right.

Geeky product designer Dave Delisle came up with a really cool idea for Trekkies’ away missions here on Earth. He thought of a tent that would be shaped like a Federation shuttlecraft. As Dave points out, the tent also doubles as a reference to Star Trek V, which opened with Kirk, Spock and McCoy camping at Yosemite park. 

Alert the masters! YouTuber OsirisX must be banished, for they have orchestrated an unholy union. OsirisX installed Arch Linux on a PlayStation 4 that still had version 1.76 of its firmware, and then installed Steam on the desktop OS.

YouTuber Charles Mangin is a big fan of Apple’s classic computers, even the apocalypse in a box known as the Apple III. Last year, Charles designed a Raspberry Pi case based on the disastrous PC. It may not look like much, but it’s actually a physical representation of Charles’ love for Apple (and making).

Smartphones and tablets are packed with sensors. Normally they’re used by apps or the phone itself, but now Android users can take advantage of their mobile device’s light sensor, microphone and accelerometer to gather and record data with the help of Google and Exploratorium’s new Science Journal app.