A 9-in-1 Blu-ray Drive + USB Hub That Turns Cheap DVDs into 100GB Storage You Own Forever

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There was a window, roughly 1998 to 2006, when you could walk into a shop, buy a disc, and own the thing forever. No login, no region check, no email explaining that your library is migrating to a new tier. We traded that for the cloud and got monthly bills and films that quietly vanish from the catalog. BluHub is a 9-in-1 external Blu-ray drive built for people who want their files back on a shelf, with an aluminum lid that props open like a grand piano so a spare disc sits on display while the drive burns another. It is a strange, slightly stubborn object, and I like it.

Under the styling it reads and writes Blu-ray, DVD and CD, burns BD-R at 6x onto 100GB discs, and adds four USB 3.0 ports, SD and microSD slots and captive USB-C and USB-A cables, all in a 409g aluminum body running on bus power. Early pricing is $59 against $129 retail, with units due in November 2026. Sony ended production of all recordable Blu-ray media in February 2025, and Pioneer’s US arm has since stopped selling optical drives entirely. A three-person Los Angeles team looked at that and decided it was the perfect moment to build a nicer one.

Designer: BluHub

Click Here to Buy Now: $59 $129 (54% off) Hurry! Only 6 days left.

Lift the aluminum lid and it locks upright on a thin strut, holding a second disc in plain view while the internal tray reads or burns another underneath. Wang gets the credit for pushing that flip-top through, and it is the one decision here with real design lineage behind it. Dieter Rams and Hans Gugelot put a clear acrylic cover on the Braun SK4 in 1956 and people nicknamed it Snow White’s Coffin, because for the first time a machine let you watch it think. Naoto Fukasawa did the same trick differently in 2000, hanging a Muji CD player on the wall so the spinning disc became the whole point of looking at it. Laptops spent the two decades after that hiding the mechanism, then removing it. BluHub just quietly puts it back where you can see it.

Apple pulled the optical drive from the MacBook Pro in 2012 and called it progress, and every Windows manufacturer followed within a few years, chasing thinner chassis and lighter shipping weights. That trade made sense for a while, streaming was cheap, storage was cheap, and nobody missed the disc tray. It also happened to be the moment computing quietly stopped selling you a machine that could read what you owned outright and started renting you access instead. The optical drive was the last piece of hardware standing between a consumer and a library they fully controlled, no account required, no revocation possible. Bringing it back as an external accessory does not undo that shift, but it does hand the option back to anyone who wants it.

Aluminum alloy covers a 165 x 160 x 34mm footprint, sitting on four anti-vibration feet with a claimed sub-30dB noise floor while burning. A captive USB-C and USB-A cable stows in a channel underneath, so there is nothing loose to lose in a drawer. Every USB hub I have ever owned has shed its cable within a year, and building the cord into the chassis is the kind of unglamorous fix that never makes a keynote but genuinely improves daily use. Four USB 3.0 ports, an SD slot and a microSD slot round out the connectivity, all riding a shared USB 3.2 Gen2 pipe rated at 10Gbps rather than 10Gbps per port, worth knowing before a card dump and a disc burn compete for bandwidth at the same time. Compatibility spans Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS, plus iPadOS and Android over OTG.

A 1TB SSD costs roughly double what it did in late 2025, chased there by an AI-driven NAND shortage that shows no sign of easing before 2027. RAM prices are climbing for the same reason. Sony confirmed this July that PlayStation physical discs stop being produced altogether by 2028, one more signal that game ownership is headed the way of movie ownership already went. Against that backdrop, a $55 hub that turns a five dollar disc into 100GB of storage nobody can revoke reads less like nostalgia and more like a hedge. The piano lid is what got me. The timing is what makes the argument.

BluHub is available through its Kickstarter campaign, with the early bird sitting at $59 against a stated $129 retail price. Multi-unit bundles run $109 for two, $159 for three and $259 for five. Shipping is estimated for November 2026, with delivery fees of $6 to $7 in the US and comparable rates internationally.

Click Here to Buy Now: $59 $129 (54% off) Hurry! Only 6 days left.

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This Handmade Japanese Drawing Pad Comes With Black Paper That Makes Every Stroke Feel Deliberate

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I cannot draw to save my life, but I have a special affection for drawing pads, especially if they’re really well-made. I always have one in my collection, whether to give as a gift to people who actually know and love to draw, or to use for journaling and scrapbooking purposes. The kind of paper used plus the binding (and sometimes the cover) makes all the difference. Japanese craftsmanship when it comes to stationery is usually the go-to of collectors like me.

The Japanese Drawing Pad is simply named and is also minimalist in its design. But it’s a piece of living craftsmanship with almost a century of bookbinding tradition behind it. Originally available in white and grey paper at $30, now it also comes with a black paper option that adds even more elegance for those looking for a unique kind of drawing and writing experience. Having a simple but efficient and beautifully designed tool like this can help artists, creators, writers, and hobbyists bring their ideas to life. It’s also worth noting that this is the kind of design that looks just as good sitting on a desk as it does in use: clean, understated, and effortlessly elegant.

Click Here to Buy Now: Starting at $30.00 Hurry, only a few left!

If you know anything about stationery, then you know that Japanese paper has always been held in high regard. It is smooth and soft but comes with an inherent toughness that makes it perfect for calligraphy, drafting, drawing, sketching, and more. This Drawing Pad, of course, uses this premium paper, and it’s one of its main selling points for connoisseurs. The pad doesn’t come with a cover, so you can go straight to the heart of the matter by drawing, sketching, or writing directly onto it. And once you’re done with whatever masterpiece you’re creating, or whether it’s just the first draft of something, you can easily tear it off, since each sheet is microperforated at the top.

The Japanese Drawing Pad is made by hand by ITO Bindery, as the binding glue is applied using a specialized brush, so you know that each piece is handcrafted with precision. The bookbindery has been around since 1938 and has not lost its bookbinding tradition over the past few decades. Each pad also uses a recycled cardboard backing, which is a thoughtful and sustainable touch. You have three options for size. If you need something compact to carry around, get the A6. If you need a bigger space, the A5 is perfect for you. And if you need something that gives you more room for details, go for the A4 size.

Previously, you only had white and gray as the paper options. But now you can also choose to get the black paper, a particularly striking choice if you have silver, white, or metallic-ink pens to use when drawing or writing. The unconventional black surface is something that many artists and writers prefer when they want to experiment, and it’s easy to see why. There’s something almost theatrical about working on black paper: every stroke feels more deliberate, more expressive, and more visually arresting. Whether you’re sketching a portrait, laying out a design concept, or writing in silver ink, the contrast is stunning in a way that a standard white pad simply cannot replicate.

Whether you’re a seasoned artist, an avid journaler, or simply someone who appreciates beautiful and well-crafted objects, the Japanese Drawing Pad deserves a permanent spot on your desk, or at the very top of your gift list. It’s the rare kind of thing that manages to be both a functional everyday tool and a quiet work of art. In a world increasingly cluttered with screens and digital noise, there’s something deeply satisfying about slowing down and putting pen to paper, especially when the paper is this exceptional. The new black option only sweetens the deal, giving this already beloved pad a bold new identity. For collectors and creatives alike, this is one addition to your collection that you won’t regret, and one gift that will definitely be remembered.

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This Tiny Home Packs a Full-Size Fridge, Loft Bedroom, & Sleeping for Four Into 128 Square Feet

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At just 16 feet long, the Petite Pelican doesn’t ask much of the land it sits on. What it does ask is that you reconsider how much space you actually need — and it makes a convincing case. This custom-built tiny house on wheels, currently listed in North Carolina for $60,000, packs a full kitchen, bathroom, loft bedroom, and sleeping for four into 128 square feet of main-level living space, with an additional 60-square-foot loft overhead.

The exterior sets the tone immediately. White board-and-batten siding meets a black metal gable roof — clean, cottage-adjacent, and just sharp enough to photograph well. The proportions feel considered rather than squeezed, and a small exterior storage box handles propane tanks without cluttering the aesthetic. It rides on a double-axle trailer, which keeps it road-legal and genuinely mobile for those who want a home that actually moves with them.

Designer: Tyson Chavonne Builders

Inside, the design leans into the beadboard-and-shiplap vocabulary that tiny home buyers tend to love, but with enough restraint that it avoids feeling like a theme. Luxury vinyl flooring runs underfoot, and natural light pours in through generous glazing on all sides. The open-plan living room connects directly to the kitchen, and the layout makes the transition feel intentional rather than inevitable. A sofa doubles as a twin daybed with a pullout trundle — two guests sleep there comfortably — while the loft above hosts a double bed flanked by clerestory windows on both sides. That’s four people sleeping in 16 feet, which is a harder problem to solve than it sounds.

The kitchen is galley-style, with cabinetry on each wall. Sage green cabinets anchor the space with a calm, earthy quality, while a butcher-block countertop adds warmth without trying too hard. A two-burner propane cooktop, full-size fridge and freezer, microwave, and steel sink cover the cooking essentials. The underside of the staircase opens into open shelving — small jars, spices, and kitchenware stored where dead space would otherwise be. It’s a detail that signals real design thinking, not just spatial necessity.

The bathroom is compact but functional, with a walk-in shower, toilet, floating shelves, and a vanity sink. The shower is separated by a white curtain rather than a glass partition — a pragmatic call at this scale, and one that keeps the weight down.

The Petite Pelican is listed fully furnished and turnkey, ready to live in or rent out immediately. At $60,000, it sits on the accessible end of the tiny home market — and for something this well-resolved at 16 feet, that’s the detail worth noticing.

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This LEGO Fan Rebuilt Linkin Park’s Meteora Cover In Bricks, Then Added the Whole Band Below Too

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Quick pop quiz for anyone who owns Meteora on CD, RIP CD collections. Who’s the guy on the cover, crouched down in a respirator with a spray can? If you said Mike Shinoda, you’re wrong, and so was I for about fifteen years. It’s actually Boris Tellegen, a Dutch graffiti artist who goes by Delta, and the whole thing started as a giant collaborative mural before the band decided the quiet shot of one guy working was more powerful than the finished wall. Which, honestly, is a very 2003 nu-metal thing to do. Make something huge, then zoom in on the one moment that feels honest.

Anyway, LEGO builder Zihnisinir_61 apparently had the same reaction I did, because he went and turned that exact photo into a brick-built diorama, complete with the ladder, the scaffolding, and Delta himself mid-spray. And then, because why stop at faithful, he added an entire concert underneath it that was never part of the original artwork at all.

Designer: Zihnisinir_61

The top half of the build is the album cover you already know, rebuilt with genuinely impressive detail. The scaffolding on the left is all thin, angular Technic framing that somehow reads as rickety and load-bearing at the same time, and Delta himself is hunched over mid-spray with a tiny paint can in hand, exactly like the photo. The wall behind him is where the real craft is hiding though. It is packed with SNOT, studs not on top, techniques both inside and outside the build, and Zihnisinir_61 pointed out something I would not have caught on my own, that all those angled bricks are what create the deliberate imperfections and diagonal shadow line running through the original mural. It should not work as well as it does, but it does.

The “LINKIN PARK” and “METEORA” logos sit just below that, fully brick-built in layered plates rather than printed tiles, alongside a custom tracklist graphic listing all thirteen songs. But the real swing is what happens underneath. The original cover has a solid black lower third and nothing else. Zihnisinir_61 looked at that empty space and decided it needed a full band. Chester is mid-scream at the mic, Mike is on piano, Joe is at the turntables, Brad is on guitar, Phoenix is on bass, and Rob is behind the kit, all set against glossy black tiles that actually reflect the minifigures like stage lighting. My favorite detail is a tiny one a fan pointed out in the comments, a horn piece used as Delta’s spray-painting index finger. Once you see it you cannot unsee it.

It is a fitting way to honor an album that took its name from the Meteora monasteries in Greece, ancient structures somehow balanced on top of sheer sandstone cliffs, because Shinoda thought the word felt epic and cinematic. Meteora debuted at number one, sold around 810,000 copies its first week, and even scored a Grammy nomination for the instrumental track “Session.” This is also round two for Zihnisinir_61, who previously built Hybrid Theory’s Winged Herald cover, and one commenter already called it, joking that Minutes to Midnight has to be next.

The MOC is sitting at 207 supporters right now, with 425 days left to hit the first 1,000-vote milestone on the road to the full 10,000 needed for LEGO’s official review. You can head to the LEGO Ideas page here to add your vote. If Zihnisinir_61 really is building out the whole discography, I would not mind seeing a tiny brick-built version of that infamous label meeting where Warner almost buried this album entirely.

The post This LEGO Fan Rebuilt Linkin Park’s Meteora Cover In Bricks, Then Added the Whole Band Below Too first appeared on Yanko Design.

ASUS ROG Spatha X 65K: The Heavy MMO Mouse That Comes With Its Own Museum Dock

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The ROG Spatha X 65K comes with a charging dock, and the dock is doing four jobs. It’s the 2.4 GHz receiver, the charger, a battery status readout with a toggle button on the back, and an angled plinth that holds the mouse nose-up like a museum piece. Fifteen minutes parked on it gets you 25 hours of gaming, which is roughly one very poor decision about bedtime.

The mouse it holds is worth the pedestal. ASUS revived its MMO flagship at Gamescom 2026 with 12 programmable buttons, a 65,000 dpi AimPoint Pro sensor, hot-swappable Push-Fit Socket III switches, and a 126-gram body that takes two 10-gram weights across five front, center, and rear configurations. On the same stage, ASUS also showed the 56-gram Gladius IV Ace. One brand, one day, two completely opposite theories of what a mouse should weigh.

Designer: ASUS Republic of Gamers

Two 10-gram modules and three mounting positions produce the five configurations ASUS advertises: bare at 126 grams, a single weight sitting front, center, or rear at 136, and both installed at 146. Three of those five options weigh exactly the same amount. What changes between them is the center of gravity, which moves the pivot point when you swing from the wrist. ASUS built a balance system and marketed it as a weight system, which undersells the more useful half. Anyone who has shimmed a mouse with coins and electrical tape will recognize the intent immediately.

Angular, deliberately mismatched thumb buttons arranged in the outline of the ROG eye carry straight over from the 2015 original, and ASUS says so out loud rather than pretending the shape is new. No two buttons in that cluster share a profile, so your thumb identifies them by edge geometry instead of counting positions. The side grip carries a Mayan-inspired pattern pressed into the surface, and the primary buttons are dished so fingertips settle into them. Eleven years on, that thumb logic holds up better than most ergonomic thinking from its era.

Nobody plays above 3,200 dpi, so the 65,000 figure exists to sit on a box next to a competitor’s smaller number. The upgrade that actually changes how the mouse behaves is the 11 preset lift-off distances, which matter enormously for a device built around low-sensitivity sweeping across a large pad. Repositioning a 126-gram body means lifting it constantly, and a badly calibrated lift-off turns every reset into a cursor jump. ASUS spent the engineering where it counts, then wrote the press release around the other thing. Standard industry practice, and mildly annoying every time.

Worn-out clicks kill more mice than dead sensors do, which makes Push-Fit Socket III the feature most likely to still matter in three years. The box ships with a switch tweezer, two spare ROG Silent Micro Switches, a PTFE feet set, and grip tape. The default ROG Micro Switch II is rated at 100 million clicks and the silent option at 50 million, with third-party switches dropping in within a few minutes. Configuration runs through Gear Link in a browser, so no Armoury Crate install is required. Anyone who has fought that software will read this as an apology.

ASUS has announced no price, no release date, no color beyond black, and no total battery life, which is a conspicuous omission for a device this heavy on radio duty. At 137mm long and 126 grams before you add anything, it also rules out small hands entirely. The 2021 Spatha X landed near $150, so budget accordingly and expect a premium on top of that. For a mouse asking you to push nearly a third of a pound around all evening, I’d want the runtime figure in writing before committing. The dock is beautiful. It should not have to work that hard.

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Harley-Davidson’s $3,299 Turntable Is Shaped Like Their Logo

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The moment you see the Pro-Ject x Harley-Davidson Turntable, you know exactly what it is, and you know exactly who it is for. That kind of immediate clarity is rare in product design, and it is worth paying attention to.

Pro-Ject Audio has built a reputation for doing collaborations the right way. The Austrian turntable maker has previously teamed up with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Metallica, AC/DC, and Elvis Presley, and the pattern across all of them is consistent: these are not logo-on-a-box exercises. Pro-Ject uses each collaboration as an opportunity to rethink the physical design of the hardware itself, from the ground up. The Harley-Davidson edition follows that same standard, and arguably pushes it further than any of its predecessors.

Designer: Pro-Ject

The plinth, which is the chassis of the turntable, is literally shaped like the Harley-Davidson Bar & Shield logo. Not decorated with it. Shaped like it. That distinction matters more than it might initially seem. It means every design decision radiates from an identity that already carries enormous cultural weight, and Pro-Ject had to make the engineering work around that shape without cutting corners. The result is a chassis milled from solid MDF with no hollow spaces, which ensures maximum resonance damping and a dead-quiet noise floor. A precision-milled aluminum top surface sits above it. The whole thing looks like it belongs in a museum of industrial design, or possibly a very well-curated garage.

The materials continue the story. Polished aluminum, stainless steel, and a genuine leather platter mat that echoes the texture and feel of a classic Harley saddle. The 300mm glass platter sits above a diamond-cut aluminum sub-platter, and the total moving drive mass clocks in at 2.75 kilograms. The 915-gram Harley-Davidson record puck alone communicates seriousness. This is not a turntable that was assembled casually.

Then there is the tonearm. A hand-polished 8.6-inch S-shaped aluminum arm with an SME-style removable headshell, high-purity copper internal wiring, and a TPE-damped counterweight. The removable headshell is more useful than it might initially appear, because cartridge swapping becomes considerably easier, and Pro-Ject designed the arm to accommodate a wide range of cartridges for anyone who eventually wants to upgrade beyond the included Pick it PRO moving-magnet cartridge. Out of the box, it is ready to play. Down the road, it is ready to grow.

It is handmade in Europe, available for special order, and priced at $3,299. That is not an entry-level number, and it was never trying to be. Placed next to a $40,000 motorcycle inside a Harley-Davidson showroom, which is apparently one of the places where these will be sold alongside traditional hi-fi dealers, the price reads very differently. Context shifts perception. That is also one of the more quietly brilliant moves of this entire release: distributing it through Harley showrooms introduces serious audio equipment to an audience that may have never walked into a dedicated hi-fi store. That kind of crossover is genuinely good for the culture of listening.

My honest take is that this collaboration works because neither brand had to compromise to get here. Harley-Davidson’s visual identity is so iconic that a lazy licensed product would have been obvious immediately. Pro-Ject’s reputation is built on engineering, not lifestyle branding, so a piece that looked great but performed poorly would have been an embarrassment. The fact that both came away intact says everything about how seriously this was approached.

Production is limited, with no confirmed quantity and no guarantee of a second run. If the convergence of motorcycles, vinyl, leather, aluminum, and genuine hi-fi performance speaks to you at all, waiting feels like an unnecessary gamble. Some objects exist at exactly the intersection of who you are, and this turntable is very specifically that for a certain kind of person: someone who values craft, has opinions about sound, and is not apologetic about having taste with an edge. The open road has always had a soundtrack. Now it finally has a turntable to match.

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