Hasta La Gadget!

Season three of The Walking Dead may still be airing, but it is never too soon to get a sneak peek at the case for the limited-edition Blu-ray set. MTV Geek has outed the collectible packaging, and it’s nice and gruesome and features a replica of the Governor’s head-filled aquarium.

This is a must have for Walking Dead fans and I’m sure it is creepier than anything you have on display on your shelf already. This Blu-ray case was a collaboration between Robert Kirkman and McFarlane Toys comes with five plastic decapitated heads – all nicely decayed and nasty as you’d expect. It’s even got LED illumination to proudly showcase your floating heads.

If you collect Blu-Ray sets and love this show, you will want to get this one when it is eventually released.

[via Nerd Approved]

Growing up I played plenty of Monopoly with my friends. Typically, a game started out the same way no matter who I played with, which is to say a fight over who got to be the racecar. No one wanted to be the hat, the shoe, or the incredibly lame iron.

The people at Hasbro recently held a vote to determine which of the existing Monopoly pieces would be booted from the game. While the voting was close – with the shoe and wheelbarrow in the running to be ejected from the game, the useless iron was the piece ultimately voted off the island Atlantic City.

The piece that will replace the iron in the set is a small cat.

The cat will be a good complement to the Scottie dog that is currently used as one of the pieces in the game. It was voted most popular during the online competition, and won out against a helicopter, diamond ring, guitar and a robot (which would have been cool.)

The iron isn’t the first Monopoly piece to be removed from the game. In the 50s a lantern, a purse, and a rocking horse were removed. New versions of Monopoly with the cat will be available later this year.

[via BBC]

I always thought Q*bert was a cool game. Between the characters, funky sound effects and weird diagonal control scheme, it was definitely one of the more “out-there” video games of its time. That said, it was one of the most challenging games I ever played in the arcade. The only game that kicked my butt more was Donkey Kong. So with that in mind, I’m not sure if I should love or hate this Q*bert coffee table. Okay, I love it. That was easy.

The table was made by woodworker Gill Benzion of Ébéniste. It measures 24″(W) x 20″(D) x 20″(H) and features a marquetry detail inspired by the classic arcade game, set into a walnut veneer lid, set atop an ash base and legs. It’s definitely more elegant looking than the bright colors of the original Q*bert – and it doesn’t make weird noises when you drop things onto its isometric cubes.

You can order this one over on Etsy for $500(USD), or you can request a custom order if you’re looking for a different size. I think if I owned one of these, I’d have to go buy the old Q*bert board game and put the pieces in the empty spaces.

If you spent the rest of your day putting your skull back together after seeing Gyuta K.’s LEGO Eva Gundam, brace yourself. Because as it turns out, he has an earlier project so awesome it will beam saber your brain to bits. It’s a LEGO action figure of the White Devil, the RX-78-2 Gundam.

Like many action figures, this LEGO Gundam has several points of articulation, making it quite poseable. And like many LEGO creations, the Gundam has swappable parts, including two different chests. One chest has a cockpit for a minifig Amuro Ray while the other transforms into the FF-X7 Core Fighter. I think I just saw parts of your cerebellum drip out of your nose.

Unfortunately, I’m going to have to de-blow your minds. You see, Gyuta K. uploaded the pictures and details of his masterpiece on MOCPages way back in 2010. I know what you’re thinking – LEGO Cuusoo! Gyuta K. did submit a proposal to LEGO’s website, but it was rejected “for not following the Guidelines.” I guess it was just too badass to be mass-produced. Activate your Newtype powers and fly to Gyuta K.’s MOCPages page to see more of the action figure.

[via MOCPages & Gundam Guy via Nerd Approved]

DNA is essential to carbon-based life as we know it, but this is one of the few times that I’ve seen it used to create art. An artist created portrait sculptures from the analyses of genetic material that was collected in public places.

Heather Dewey-Hagborg created these portraits from random genetic material left behind in public spaces on everything from cigarette butts to chewing gum and strands of hair. She calls her work Stranger Visions, and it’s supposed to ‘call attention to the impulse toward genetic determinism and the potential for a culture of genetic surveillance’.

She used facial modeling software and a 3D printer to make these samples into sculptures, which were reconstructed from ethnic profiles, eye color, and hair color. Since the samples were randomly collected, we have no idea how accurate the facsimiles faces are compared to their genetic materials’ providers.

What’s even more fascinating is that she perfected her software using open-source DNA profiles available for public download over on github. Yes, you can open source your DNA.

[via designboom]