Aug 12 2009 I Want All Three!: Do It Yourself Dino Lamps
If any of you are looking for any last minute gift ideas, these dinosaur lamps from ThinkGeek are the perfect present for your Geekologie Writer.
All three (triceratops, diplodocus and t-rex) of these dinosaur lamps are constructed from precision cut sheets of flexible plastic which you slot together to create the finished glowing sculpture. Construction time is about 30-40 minutes, but the directions are very clear with detailed photographs of each step.
Each lamp will set you back a cool $20, and, obviously, I want all three. Now I'm not saying I've never made love to a lamp shade before, because I totally have. But I actually like these ones enough to call them the morning after. You hear that, banker's lamp shade? Your green ass meant nothing to me!
Thanks to ryco, virus and Watch-303, who know what I like. I like pizza!
Mar 31 2009 Wow: Minas Tirith Recreated In Matchsticks
Minas Tirith, the City of Kings from J.R.R. Tolkien's Lord Of The Rings trilogy is painstakingly being recreated using matchsticks by wood-loving Patrick Acton. The project started in March, 2007, and Patrick expects to be completed by late 2010. Good looking, Pat, say -- mind if I do a j? *whoosh* Oh, uh-oh.
Hit the jump for several more of the progress and a link to Patrick's work-in-progress page.
Continue Reading " Wow: Minas Tirith Recreated In Matchsticks "
Mar 26 2009 DIY: Homemade Tupperware Joysticks
People have been going all nuts for arcade-style joysticks since Street Fighter IV dropped, so much in fact that the official $150 FightSticks are sold out everywhere online and fetching around $300 on eBay and other sites. Ain't that some shit! But now you can make your own with a little Tupperware and ingenuity. Sure it looks ridiculous, but just think how much more ridiculous it would look if it was also a fishtank. IT WOULD LOOK SO RIDICULOUS! Tupperware fishtank arcade joystick FTW! Also, fun fact: "Chun Li panties" is surprisingly not a recommended search term on Youtube. However, I did manage to find a "Street Fighter 4 butt shots/ upskirts" video. Posted after the jump!
Hit it, pervert.
Sep 5 2008 Turn Your Scooter Into A Mobile Hotspot
Is your scooter just not geeky enough for you? How about turning that bad boy into a mobile hotspot?
This how-to shows building instructions for putting together a scooter that doubles as a roving wireless hotspot, GPS device, pirate radio station, and even has enough juice to amplify an electric guitar in order to play songs over the web.
Awesome! The only thing you have to watch out for, based on the look of that monster antennae, is spinal cancer. Trust me on this one, I don't break into the hospital and steal patients' meals because I'm not a doctor. I do it because I'm hungry and my wife couldn't cook to save the last living dinosaur.
Wireless scooter lets you wardrive from the fast lane [make]
via
Build yourself a scooter that doubles as a roving hotspot [dvice]
Jul 31 2008 Felt Zelda Looks Sharp, I May Have To Buy
Etsy seller wedgered2 has made a handsome Link out of felt. And seeing as how I love everything Zelda, here he is. He is available for purchase at the bargain price of $75.
Link is a needle-felted soft sculpture made of wool on wire, so he is posable, but struggles to stand unassisted (I have some tips for the buyer if they wish to display him). His Accessories are sculpted from Polymer clay and he is able to hold them in his hand or carry the shield or sword on his back.
And, get this -- this is the best part -- the tip was actually sent to me by the maker, who had this to say:
"I am sending you this link to Zelda-related project I just finished. This little project caused me hours of headache which I only started because of the amigurumi Link you wrote of last week."
ZOMG! Not only did a Geekologie post inspire somebody to make something, but it caused hours of headache! I have powers! But not invisibility, because that jogger totally just saw my package.
Hit the jump for several more pictures of him.
Continue Reading " Felt Zelda Looks Sharp, I May Have To Buy "
Jul 16 2008 Non-Newtonian Fluid On Subwoofer
This is a video of a non-Newtonian fluid on a metal sheet set atop a subwoofer. It's pretty cool to watch. In case you forgot (or never knew) what non-Newtonian fluids are, I've copy/pasted some Wikipedia below, and posted another video of some people running across a pool of the stuff after the jump.
A non-Newtonian fluid is a fluid whose flow properties cannot be described by a single constant viscosity. An inexpensive, non-toxic example of a non-Newtonian fluid is a solution of corn starch (corn flour) and water, sometimes called oobleck. The application of force - for example by stabbing the surface with a finger, or rapidly inverting the container holding it - leads to the fluid behaving like a solid rather than a liquid. This is the "shear thickening" property of this non-Newtonian fluid. More gentle treatment, such as slowly inserting a spoon, will leave it in its liquid state. Trying to jerk the spoon back out again, however, will trigger the return of the temporary solid state. A person moving quickly and applying sufficient force with their feet can literally walk across such a liquid.
Mix cornstarch to water in a 2:1 ratio to make your own. But if you don't have any cornstarch handy you can just use pancake batter.
UPDATE: Okay, who believed me and used pancake batter? Anybody, anybody? Suckers! This is the interwebs, folks -- you can't go around believing everything you read. And on an unrelated note, does anybody know how long it typically takes for a Nigerian prince to transfer funds into a U.S. bank account?
Hit the jump for a video of people running across a non-Newtonian fluid.
Jun 4 2008 Handwrench Is A Real Hand Wrench, But Not A Real Hand, Or A Real Practical Wrench
This is the Handwrench by designer Paul Julius Martus. It's a hand wrench, with a little hand on the end. BWAHAH HA HA HA! Some people, so clever. I'm pretty sure it's just an art piece though, seeing how your little fingers would probably break off if you were trying to bust a real serious nut loose. Still, Paul gets clever points for being clever with the little hand. But I get 2x clever points for that bust a nut thing I said.
Handwrench [notcot]
Thanks Shawn, you wanna come over and help me build a deck?
Dec 28 2007 DIY: Make A Star Trek Blu-Ray Laser Phaser!
Kipkay posts some awesome DIY videos on Metacafe, and here's another. His voice really convinces me I can do whatever he's talking about, even if I know I'll end up cutting off a finger or doing some other kind of harm to myself. In this installment he installs a Blu-Ray laser into a Star Trek phaser gun. It cost less than $100 to build because he got the Blu-Ray laser somewhere for $30. I gave it a go, and needless to say I burnt my damn eyes out with the laser. Now I can't see anything. Which is both good and bad. Good because I don't have to see my girlfriend's face anymore, bad because I think I may have uploaded a naked picture of myself instead of the video for this post.
Blu-Ray Laser Phaser [metacafe]
Thanks to Richard, who is cool as hell, for the tip
