Hasta La Gadget!

When the new and the old collide, it is always an interesting affair. What you thought was fashionable during your youth is now loathed upon by your own kids, just like how you felt about your parents’ dressing sense back in their day. Well, sometimes retro does make a comeback in different ways, and you cannot get any more retro than this Twittertape Machine. The Twittertape Machine happens to be the brainchild of an avid DIY enthusiast, piecing it together to print out tweets instead of stock prices. It is one machine that prefers the style of the 19th-century ticker tape machine, using said style to print out whatever tweets that have been sent.

British Web developer Adam Vaughan was the one behind the Twittertape Machine, having built it from scratch, and he has described it to be an “astounding device will print a permanent copy of all tweets yet requires no ink or computer.” What kind of wizardry has made the Twittertape Machine possible? Deep within its wooden base lies a thermal printer and a microcontroller, which will be hooked up to a computer via Ethernet, and it will check on Vaughan’s Twitter account for new data every half a minute. Whatever it picks up with each check will then result in the printing of said tweet.

Twittertape Machine Prints Out Tweets original content from Ubergizmo.

Thunderbolt connections are not just
Mac exclusives anymore, and DIY PC users can now have another reason
to claim their systems are “better than Apple” with the help of
Asus. The firm’s new Z87-Deluxe/Quad motherboard offers two of the
very latest Thunderbolt 2 ports alongside a smorgasbord of
similarly-premium features.

With all of the controversy going on regarding “real” weapons, what with their ability to cause bodily harm, it’s best to stay out of the eternally-burning fire of this argument. Instead of going to Walmart and purchasing an assault rifle, why not save yourself some money and some responsibility? Get the Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction series!

You may be too daft to build your own M-16, but there’s no need to be dismayed! With Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction volumes 1, 2, and 3, you will become an unstoppable force of forcefulness.

In the first volume of the series, you will embark upon a quest to create 35 different weapons, including catapults, slingshots, minibombs, darts, and combustion shooters. While I do not know what minibombs and combustion shooters are, the book assures us that these items are relatively safe. For someone who fell down while carrying a fork a couple days ago, driving it into my upper thigh, I am forced to reevaluate the idea of “relatively safe.” I was also banned from using the glue gun. (Plus glitter glue, since I put it all over my chest and pretended I was Edward Cullen.)

The second and third volumes of Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction will further increase your knowledge of tiny-person violence, introducing you to paper dart watches, toothpaste periscopes, chopstick bows, bottle cap crossbows, and many more! If you ever wanted to build your own bottle cap crossbow, then now is your chance! (That little gem is located in the third volume.)

Of course, each book includes practice targets and tips for hiding your own personal armory. You’ll have to ante up $13 for each volume, but the money is well worth all of the revenge that you can exact! (Without incurring any serious legal troubles.) You can find all three Mini Weapons of Mass Destruction books on Amazon.

[via Uncrate]

Bubble Inflatables has an innovative, fun and fairly inexpensive furniture solution for anyone who doesn’t want to spring for a traditional ottoman, sofa and cozy chair. Just add air!

Ikea’s not the only place you can get a build-your-own-furniture puzzle. If you’re into the whole open source thing, there’s a new repository of completely free furniture designs that are ripe for the downloadin’. The only hurdle? You have to actually make the pieces before you can put ’em together.

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