Hasta La Gadget!

When it comes to bags and backpacks, the holy grail is a bag that’s completely waterproof, to protect all of your precious gadgets from rain and snow. Check out what Allen Mowery at DIY Photography has come up with. It’s an easy way to make any canvas bag water-resistant.

In order to make your canvas bag bead water, you’ll need two pots (or a double-boiler you don’t care about,) a mixture of paraffin and bee’s wax, and a brush. Water needs to be boiled in one pot. The other pot is going to be placed inside of this with the wax, causing it to melt. Use the brush to coat the bag with wax. Once you’ve covered the entire bag, let it dry. Toss it into an old pillowcase, and then tumble dry for 15 to 30 minutes. Once it’s done, you’ll have a water-resistant bag for a fraction of the price of an off-the-shelf one.

It’s also cool to just buy a cheap waterproof bag, but they are often less versatile and good looking as canvas bags. Waxing bags to keep water out isn’t anything new, and you’ll probably have to periodically refresh the wax coat as it wears, but it’s definitely a nice cheap way to keep your gear from getting soaked.

[via DIY Photography]

Forget about all of those expensive hand-carved, marble top coffee tables that are being sold at an overpriced figure at showrooms across the country, only to have a 80% discount slapped on it a month after you saved up a whole year for that coffee table. Here is something from Sean Regan and Aubrey Cohen, where it took a total of 6 months to carve it out. Touted to be extremely sturdy, it is a throwback to the Star Trek Enterprise tables that was previously done.

The top and bottom half which sandwich the glass have been bolted together, so that even if you accidentally bumped it while walking, it will still remain sure. The front comes with 3 points of support contact with the glass as well, so you can more or less say that it is well protected with enough “deflector shields” for real life bumps. Just how much does it cost? It is supposedly $14 an hour, which equals to roughly $60,500 – which is plain nuts, but considering how it is lovingly hand-crafted and pays a close resemblance to the actual X-Wing, who knows, someone might be crazy enough to stump up that kind of money.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Eutelsat Communications Ultra HD Channel Hit Europe, LG EA9800 OLED TV Has Generous Curves,

I use IKEA Stolmen components as my library shelves, but this sweet setup makes me think that the Expedit series could be even more versatile. This convenient workstation was nested inside an Expedit bookshelf, allowing its owner to maximize the efficiency of his available space.

Space was at a premium in Jason Outlaw’s one bedroom apartment. So he decided to use his Expedit as not only his bookshelf, but as his computer workstation and a TV stand. Jason added IKEA Non-Spotlights to add a bit of light, but the cooler, energy-efficient LED Dioders could work pretty well too. A slide-out Kensington keyboard holder fit his MacBook perfectly. Because of the depth of the shelves, his radio and receiver are hidden away behind books, and speakers are used as bookends. When not in use, the TV is covered up by a removable art panel.

It’s a cool hack, though I prefer large desks to allow my clutter to spread out.

[via IKEA Hackers]

Fans of Borderlands 2 would love to get their hands on this weapon. This awesome glowing sword is just like the one that Zer0 uses in the game – only this one is real. While there’s no cloaking ability to go along with this sword, it’s still pretty amazing.

This Borderlands 2 Zer0 Sword was built by Michelle Khuu (aka Sadistic-Otaku) out of wood, blue acrylic, a blue LED ribbon, a toggle switch and a 9v battery. It is a geek creation of deadly beauty. Hopefully she hasn’t cut anyone in half with it.

If she sold these, I would buy one. She would probably make a ton of money off of all us gaming geeks. At least we would look cool for the apocalypse.

[via Obvious Winner]

Tesla coils are one of scientists’ go to tool for making science appealing to kids. As if producing your own lightning wasn’t enough, tesla coils can also be used to produce music by pulsing its sparks at appropriate frequencies. You can do all that and more with the oneTesla DIY kit. Although you might not like the “more” part.

The oneTesla was conceptualized by Bayley Wang, Heidi Baumgartner and Daniel Kramnik. All three are members of MITERS, a student-run tinkering shop at MIT. Which brings us to the catch of oneTesla: you have to build it yourself. Even the inventors admit that it’s best left to people with advanced skills in soldering and electronics. But that’s partly the point of the kit. I’m sure you’ll learn a lot about electronics even if you just watch or assist in assembling the oneTesla. And once it’s built, you can do this:

Flight of the Bumblebee or Attack of the Mosquitoes? The oneTesla has been such a hit at Kickstarter that its cheaper pledges have already sold out; as of this writing you’ll have to pledge at least $299 (USD) to reserve a unit, and you’ll have to wait until May to receive yours. I say it’s worth it.

[via oneTesla]