Author Archives: hite

Crafting a Miniature Pac-Man Arcade Game Drink Coaster

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Ever wanted to craft your own miniature Pac-Man level drink coaster? Who hasn’t? It’s a universal human dream. And to help us achieve that dream, YouTuber The Avid Creator avidly created this video detailing how he made one. Just follow along to make your own! Will yours turn out as well as his did? Yours might, but mine definitely won’t.

He constructed the base and walls of the level from finely-cut wood pieces, while the pellets, ghosts, and Pac-Man are made of polymer clay, with everything painted and then sealed with epoxy resin. Admittedly, that is a good-looking drink coaster. Way nicer than my coaster, which just looks like a water ring on the coffee table.

Does anybody want to make a bunch of these for me to give out as Christmas gifts this year? I can promise you’ll be handsomely rewarded. With praise, just to be clear – not with actual money. Come on, Santa doesn’t even pay his elves!

This Wooden Xenomorph Phone Stand Looks Like It’s Been Dead a Long Time

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Intricately carved out by Ukrainian woodworker Vadim of Etsy shop bovagu, these wooden xenomorph phone stands are perfect for letting coworkers know you’re a fan of the Alien franchise. Or for trying to convince them you’re an alien headhunter like the Predators. Speaking from experience, though, that’s an uphill battle. These people aren’t as gullible as my nieces and nephews.

The $145 heads are carved from sustainable linden wood, weigh 0.9 lbs, and measure approximately 5.5″ x 12″ x 3.5″. They can also be linseed oiled in different colors if blue isn’t your thing. I want mine to be the limey green tint of xenomorph blood, as seen in the movies. I demand realism!

Admittedly, that’s a sweet phone stand. And to think I’ve gotten by all this time just using a stack of unfinished work documents for a stand while I watch Netflix instead of actually attending to those documents. Fun fact: those papers also double as napkins and emergency tissues!

[via DudeIWantThat]

Robotic Swarm Cubicle Walls: Privacy on the Go

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Because scientists are working hard to make sure the future is going to be nothing like Back to the Future II led me to believe, WaddleWalls are an interactive partitioning system that can set up semi-private walling around a person on the fly. The future of office workspaces! It’s… bleak.

Developed by researchers at Japan’s Tohoku University, the swarm of wall-bots can either autonomously set up partitioning around an identified person or assemble preset partitions, navigating around an office space on their own. The heights of the partitions can also be adjusted for the necessary level of privacy. Me? I want them to go all the way to the ceiling. And be covered with fiberboard and filled with insulating foam. You know, actual walls.

Will these prove to be the future of cubicles? I doubt it. You never know, though. Of course, as flimsy as these walls are, it would take almost no time or effort for a human to set up the same thing. Just buy three portable projector screens, and boom, you’ve got yourself an equally depressing cubicle in less than a minute and at a fraction of the cost.

[via Gizmodo]

Volkswagen Created a Motorized Office Chair with Car Features

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Inspired by the features found in its line of vans, Volkswagen Norway created a motorized office chair with all sorts of bells and whistles. The chair’s features include LED headlights, a seatbelt, a seat warmer, a horn, a tow hitch – even an entertainment system. So basically, an office chair that’s even nicer than my car.

The foot-pedal-operated chair has a range of about 7.5-miles and a top speed of just over 12 MPH. It also has a backup camera and proximity sensors and a touchscreen entertainment center with integrated speakers. For reference, my car has a boombox sitting in the passenger seat operated by eight D batteries.

Unfortunately for business executives with corner offices and private bathrooms, the chair isn’t actually going to be sold but was made as a marketing piece to highlight VW’s van features. Which, from what I could gather, aren’t that different than other manufacturers’ van features. Those companies didn’t put them all in an office chair, though, which is why I’m only buying VW from now on. When’s the new microbus coming out anyways?

[via New Atlas]

TinyTV Miniature Video Displays

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TinyTV 2 and TinyTV Mini are miniature video displays in the form of old CRT televisions. Currently, an already heavily funded Kickstarter project, prices start at $49 and go up from there depending on the style and color of the television case and the inclusion of an equally tiny remote control. Obviously, I might just be receiving that World’s Best Uncle award sooner than I thought if I get one of these for my niece’s dollhouse.

The TinyTV 2 (the larger of the two tiny models) features a 216×135 pixel display, functional rotary knobs on the front for adjusting volume and changing the channel (next video file), a forward-facing speaker, 8GB storage (~10 hours of video) and a Li-polymer battery with about 2 hours of power. The TinyTV Mini features a 64×64 pixel OLED display, volume and channel buttons on top, an internal speaker, 8GB storage (~40 hours of video at this resolution), and a Li-polymer battery with about 1 hour of power. Both can easily have video footage uploaded, and their batteries recharged via USB-C cable, as well as be operated using an IR remote.

Most people want as large a TV as they can fit in front of the sofa, so it’s refreshing to see ultra-miniature televisions for a change. Plus, they’re much more budget-friendly. Sure I’ll likely miss a lot of the finer details watching House of the Dragon, but those dragons would probably scare me on the big screen anyways.

Man Creates Folding iPhone from an iPhone X and Motorola Razr

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Because dream it and you can achieve it, Chinese YouTuber 科技美学 has created the iPhone V, a folding iPhone he built using parts from both an iPhone X and Motorola Razr. That’s cool; I’ve also bent an iPhone before. Granted, it wasn’t on purpose, and it cost me $900 to replace, but this time I got the insurance.

The video walks through the process in which the phone was Frankenstein’d together, which looks slightly above my expertise level. And by slightly, I mean vastly. I can barely put a protective case on my phone without breaking something.

There are rumors Apple is going to release its own folding version of the iPhone. Are they true? No clue; I don’t participate in gossip. But if other phone companies are making flip phones and they’re selling, I suspect Apple will as well, then claim they invented them in the first place. When are pagers going to make a comeback?

[via MacRumors]

Pendant Lamp Made from Mushroom Mycelium Is One Fungi Light

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Created by “grower of carbon-negative materials” Myceen with the help of good ol’ Mother Nature, the $750 B-Wise Pendant Lamp is made entirely from mushroom mycelium and its organic byproducts. The mushroom material it’s made from contains no chemicals or synthetic additives, “making it perfectly compostable.” That’s cool, but I did think it was a bread bowl at first. Now I want some clam chowder.

The growth of the mushroom mycelium has been stopped, and the lamp is perfectly safe for humans and buildings. That’s a relief because you can’t very well tell me a lamp is made from mushrooms and not expect me to take a bite. I love mushrooms, especially with spaghetti and meatballs.

Myceen also grows mycelium acoustic wall panels, which apparently have unique acoustic properties. My apartment’s walls? They also have unique acoustic properties. Mostly that they’re paper thin and let every little noise pass through with ease. I can hear my neighbor sleeping, and he doesn’t even snore!

[via DudeIWantThat]

Autonomous Fruit-Picking Drones: Harvesting the Future

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Developed by Tevel Aerobotics, the Flying Autonomous Robot harvester is a collection of tethered drones that can pick ripe fruit from trees. The robots can analyze a piece of fruit for color and ripeness before picking it with its suction arm, being able to identify fruit from leaves or other objects. That’s good because the last thing you want is your fruit-harvesting robots to come back with a bunch of squirrels instead of apples.

The robots have already successfully been used to harvest peaches, apples, nectarines, and plums, with California-based HMC Farms, which is pleased with the results. According to HMS vice president Drew Ketelsen, “The years of work we’ve put into cultivating high-density orchards are paying off as we implement technology like Flying Autonomous Robot harvesting. This project is still in an early stage, but the future potential is very exciting.” Exciting being relative to just how thrilling you find robotic fruit harvesting to begin with, of course.

First, harvesting fruit to power the humans; next, harvesting humans to power the Matrix. It’s only a matter of time. And I don’t want to be here when it happens, just for the record. And it will happen. I’ve read a lot of robot fan fiction, and 9 out of 10 ends poorly for us fleshbags.

[via TechEBlog]

Man Installs ‘Eject Passenger’ Button Garage Door Opener in Car

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Because who hasn’t dreamed of having a James Bond-style ejector seat in their vehicle to quickly remove a passenger during an uncomfortable conversation, YouTuber Scott Prints installed a passenger ejector seat button in his vehicle. Of course, it’s not actually an ejector seat button; it’s a garage door opener. Despite that, I still want one.

The button fits in the loose change compartment of the car’s center console and features the guts of a garage door opener inside a 3D-printed case, with a milled aluminum top plate and red button. He should make an upgrade, so the button lights up and flashes when you reach a certain speed. Sorry, but it’s time for you to go!

Sure, it’s just a novelty garage door opener, but is that going to stop me from laughing maniacally and telling my passenger I’ve got them right where I want them before pointing at the red button? It is not. “Say hello to the sun for me!” I imagine joking before accidentally running over a parking curb because I thought the car was in reverse.

[via Hackaday]

Make Your Own CBD Gummy Candies

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CBD: it’s all the rage. With numerous health benefits like pain relief and helping to reduce anxiety, it’s the latest miracle cure. And now you can make your own CBD gummy candies at home using the Nostalgia Electric Giant Gummy Bear, Fish, and Worm Maker (affiliate link). The unit features a gelatin melting pot in the middle, surrounded by candy molds on ice for forming your candies. Plus, it comes with a giant gummy bear mold if you REALLY need a strong dose.

Add the CBD oil of your choice to the candy mix before cooling, and you’ll be pain-free and as cool as a cucumber before you know it. Just make sure to follow the dosage suggestions with the oil you’re using when making them because one time, I ate these brownies before a concert and never made it to the concert. Granted, they weren’t CBD, but the lesson is the same: proper dosage is important.

Of course, you don’t have to make CBD gummies; you can use it to make regular gummy candies. Or you could make gummies with other medicinal oils. Hey, I’m not here to tell you what to do; I’m just here to demand a handful of whatever you do make.