SNES Controller Pillow: SNUZ Controller

Earlier this year we saw the awesome oversized N64 pillow made by Donna Marie Evans. Donna was bombarded by requests for the pillow, but last month a customer asked her to make a controller pillow from an earlier Nintendo console. The result is this very huggable SNES controller pillow.

snes controller pillow 620x1202magnify

Donna said that this pillow was harder to make than the N64 one, partly because of the Super Nintendo phrase. She had to embroider it by hand because she doesn’t have a cutting edge embroidery machine. Contact her on deviantART if you want your own SNES pillow.

You’ll want to go to China after watching this time-lapse video

You'll want to go to China after watching this time-lapse video

59 photographers in 49 cities, more than 200,000 photos, and one really awesome country: China. After you watch this incredible time-lapse, you will want to go to China and backpack for three months.

Read more…


    

What a real flying human jet looks like

What a real flying human jet looks like

Our favorite flying human Yves ‘Jetman’ Rossy is up to his old tricks again of making us all feel like tiny little life wasters. This time, he took a majestic flying tour around Mt. Fuji in his quad rocket-powered jetpack that can go as fast as 185mph. Just look at him zoom across the sky like Iron Man. So incredible.

Read more…


    

Pokémon X/Y Automatic Shiny Finder: Monster Miner

Pokémon X & Y have lots of hard to find monsters, from highly conditional evolutions to the legendaries that you can only catch after finishing the game’s story. But the most coveted type of Pokémon, the rarest of the rare, are the shiny Pokémon – alternate colors of the game’s creatures. Allegedly you only have a 1-in-8,192 chance of encountering one in battle. That’s why Redditor dekuNukem hacked his 3DS to do the dirty work for him.

pokemon x y automatic shiny finder by dekuNukemmagnify

dekuNukem’s hack was made for battles started via fishing; I don’t know if it can be modified for the more conventional grass-hunting method. In simple terms, the hacked 3DS automatically casts the fishing rod and enters into battle on its own. If the encountered Pokémon is ordinary, the hack automatically runs away from the battle and repeats the process. But if it hits pay dirt, it emits a buzz to alert dekuNukem. You can read a full explanation in his video, or you can skip to 1:08 to see it in action:

If you think you can build your own Shiny-farming 3DS, download dekuNukem’s code here. Here’s another code you should get: my friend code is 1048-8685-2995. Remember me when you catch those shinies!

[via Joystiq]

Xbox One Employee Edition up for Bidding: The All in White Entertainment System

Microsoft has one heck of an item for zealous Xbox fans and videogame collectors. The company has donated a very special edition of the Xbox One to UK charity GamesAid. The special next generation console, which is called the Xbox One White Exclusive Launch Team Commemorative Special Edition, is now up for grabs on eBay. Hopefully you don’t have to say its full name for voice commands.

xbox one white exclusive launch team commemmorative special editionmagnify

As its name implies, the console is supposed to be given only to Microsoft employees who worked on the Xbox One. It even has the phrase “I Made This” right in front. A couple of months ago Redditor Kinect10DLL revealed all of the perks that come with the special console. This particular auction is only for the console, a matching white controller, a Kinect (which for some reason is still in black), a headset and two exclusive achievements.

You can bid for this special Xbox One on eBay. As of this writing bidding for the console is at an astronomical £17,100(~$27508 USD), and there’s still a couple of days before the auction ends. Sadly it seems that the auction is being bombed with false bids – at one point the auction showed a bid of over $200,000. And gamers wonder why we’re perceived as immature.

GamesAid said it has asked eBay for help with the false bids. If you’re planning on bidding, you should contact GamesAid first to confirm that you’re serious about buying the console. Maybe they can tell you what the actual minimum bid is as well.

[via Destructoid]

China is building an alien looking mobius strip-inspired bridge

China is building an alien looking mobius strip-inspired bridge

Because China lives in a world where they can build anything by yesterday, we often get to see a lot of architectural miscues and all around building hilariousness. This isn’t one of them. This one’s actually awesome.

Read more…


    

Touch Board Turns Touch Into Sound (and More): Synthetic Synesthesia

Last month I talked about Bare Conductive’s Electric Paint Pen, which can be used to make simple or hidden circuits. Thanks to the company’s newest product, you can use the pen to make more complex and fun devices. Bare Conductive’s Touch Board turns anything conductive – including the Electric Paint and your body – into a trigger for its built-in mp3 player or MIDI device.

touch board by bare conductive 620x413magnify

The simplest way to use the Touch Board is to load an MP3 file to a microSD card and load the card to the board. Then you just connect a conductive material and a Li-Po battery to the board. Now all you need to do is touch the conductive material and the Touch Board will play the MP3 file.

touch board by bare conductive 2magnify

The Touch Board also has a distance sensor, which means you can set it so that you don’t even have to touch your sensor to trigger the Touch Board.

touch board by bare conductive 3magnify

Combine it with the Electric Paint and some creativity and you can make neat stuff like a cardboard boombox, a talking wall, a cookie thief alarm and more. But that’s not all. The Touch Board is also compatible with Arduino Shields, so you can extend its functionality beyond just triggering sounds. Anything that an Arduino Shield can do, you can turn into a distance- or touch-activated action.

Pledge at least  £45 (~$72 USD) on Kickstarter to get a Touch Board as a reward. Bare Conductive will even throw in a microSD card and an Electric Paint Pen with your Touch Board unit.

DIY Gamer Kit: Build, Code & Game Boy

Technology Will Save Us is the maker’s version of Toys R’ Us. The shop makes toys or gadgets that require assembly, perfect for people who are into tinkering and assembling electronics. Their newest kit is a great way to entice gamers to make their own video game systems. Simply called the DIY Gamer Kit, it has everything you need to make your own handheld game console.

diy gamer kit by technology will save us 620x413magnify

The DIY Gamer Kit has over 40 separate parts that you need to solder to its custom circuit board, including its 8×8 LED screen. Once assembled, you’ll then attach that board and the remaining parts to the included Arduino Uno. Connect the finished system to a 9v battery and you’re ready to play its two built-in games, Breakout and Snake.

If you get tired of playing the built-in games, why not make your own? Learn Arduino and code your own game or animation to play on the system.

diy gamer kit by technology will save us 2 300x250
diy gamer kit by technology will save us 3 300x250
diy gamer kit by technology will save us 4 300x250
diy gamer kit by technology will save us 5 300x250

Your own game on your own handheld? Take that Ben Heck! You can pre-order the DIY Gamer Kit from Technology Will Save Us for £60 (~$96 USD).

[via Polygon]

An awesome guy made an insane Thor hammer that smashes everything

An awesome guy made an insane Thor hammer that smashes everything

This ridiculously awesome man made version of Thor’s hammer Mjölnir is so impressive that even our most Thor-like human Chris Hemsworth would have trouble swinging it around. Though it’s not quite the weight of 300 billion elephants, it’s the closest thing to Mjölnir on Earth. That’s because it’s made from 10 separate pieces of steel alloyed with chromium and molybdenum. At its heaviest, it can weigh over 200 pounds.

Read more…


    



Phantom 2 Vision: The Flying Quadricopter Camera That is Actually Useful

The concept of the Phantom 2 Vision is not one of complete novelty. I will admit that. The Phantom 2 Vision by DJI, however, has something that the other quadricopter cameras do not: solid execution. (And great mobile integration.)

This RC copter will allow you to get the perfect bird’s-eye view photos, skyline images, and more! Plus, for those of us who just think that autonomous flying objects are cool, the “Return to Home” feature promises an awesome experience, as well as a safe landing at the takeoff spot.

dji phantom 2 vision quadcopter 3 703 p 620x379magnify

Stream HD video to your mobile device, which can be mounted on the Phantom 2 Vision’s controller, and use that camera feed to steer the drone and take pictures and video! It comes with its very own 14 megapixel camera, which can record 1080/30p or 1080/60i video.

What’s the range on this baby? Well, you can stream video from up to 980 feet away, which is awesome, and I don’t think you’d want to fly your new $1,200 toy much farther away than that anyway. While it does have the “Return to Home” feature, it does not have the “stop my loser friends from sending my $1,200 flying into a pond” feature.

It’s also got automatic stabilization to help you fly, and the ability to tilt the camera remotely. Battery life is rated at 25 minutes, and you can easily swap batteries too.

dji phantom 2 vision main 620x301magnify

Think you’re cool enough to bring the Phantom 2 Vision on the next family vacation? You can get your very own over at Amazon for $1,199(USD). If, like me, this is out of your price range, just do what I do: buy an Otterbox case, press the record button on your phone, and launch it as far as possible. You’ll get the same results give or take the entire thing.

Into photography? Take a look at the Kula Deeper, which lets you take some awesome 3D pictures, or the USB Camera Lens Humidifier, which is a way to take your money disguised as a humidifier disguised as a camera lens.