Hasta La Gadget!

If you live in the area where Taiwanese artist Shu-Chun Hsiao set up his latest project, then you might be wondering why various locations have real and physical Google’s Maps icons plastered prominently on their walls or doors.

Wait a while, smell the flowers, and watch the birds, and you’ll have your answer.

These Google Maps icons aren’t just pieces of pop art based on the search giant’s popular maps application. They’re actually birdhouses that I’m sure birds of the right size will find a pleasure to live in.

Hsiao explains: “The project is aiming to put numbers of birdhouses all over the city for bird to accommodate. The iconic symbol will become a navigating landmark for the flying birds. Birds, have the most real experience of Google map. Birds can fly through the city, through streets. A birdhouse becomes their destination as Google Map(s) does.”

I’d like to have one for my house, please and thank you very much.

What do you think about Hsiao’s project?

[via Freshome via Laughing Squid]

Graffiti can be cool, at least when its done with artful purpose. With robots all over the place, it was only a matter of time before someone tried to make a robot that drew graffiti. The original Senseless Drawing Bot was great, but this one is even better. If you need random artwork on your walls, you can even hire this robot.

Japanese new media artists So Kanno and Takahiro Yamguchi are back with their second generation of their Senseless Drawing Bot. The initial one was created in 2011. The “artwork” it creates looks quite chaotic, but it can be pretty cool.

This self-propelling contraption sprays sporadic line work across a surface through the means of a double pendulum. A rotary encoder attached to the fulcrum of the pendulum allows the robot to change colors and designs. The swinging motion is intensified through inertia, which manifests itself in erratic paint strokes.

Once they can get this ‘bot up to speed, I’m sure that they’ll start popping up everywhere. And then they’ll have other robots who come along with sandblasters to clean up after them.

[via designboom]

If Tony Stark had been born a century or two earlier,  he would have probably skipped the high-tech Arc Reactor and gone with something more like the Tin Woodsman had – a pocket watch heart. This is what that watch would look like. Yeah, basically a pocket watch that matches Iron Man’s armor.

This Iron Man steampunk style pocket watch was made by Adi Simion and even though it may not be able to keep track of time, I know that I would buy one in a heartbeat.

It also reminds me that we need to take some of these superheros and throw them into the Victorian era. Those are the movies that I would like to see. Somebody get on that.

[via Obvious Winner]

Here’s a proposal that could cure Mega Man fans of their disappointment with how Capcom has treated the beloved platformer in recent years: LEGO toy sets based on Mega Man 2. Then again, knowing how Cuusoo works this could just be another source of disappointment.

The proposal was put forward by Flickr user Alatariel, who made the mock-ups using LEGO Digital Designer. I’m not sure if she wants to have all of the boss stages represented, but so far the only mock-ups are for a Wood Man stage, a Metal Man stage and a Bubble Man stage. She also made designs for Dr. Wily, his castle as well as his infamous teleportation room. The other robot masters are also represented, but as I said she didn’t make mock-ups of their stages.

Jump and shoot to LEGO Cuusoo to vote for Alatariel’s proposal. If she gathers at least 10,000 votes then LEGO will review the feasibility of the concept. Obviously this will inevitably require Capcom’s cooperation and approval, so… yeah. Head to Alatariel’s Flickr page for more pictures. They may be all you’ll ever get.

[via Rockman Corner via GoNintendo]

Scrabble can be a lot of fun. But if you and your friends are good at the game, you can finish a round pretty quickly. But where there’s a First World problem in this day and age, there’s a solution.

What you’re looking at here is a custom Scrabble board called SUPER DUPER SCRABBLE. This oversize board measures 28×28″ square, and has a grid of 31×31 spaces – a little more than 4 times more spaces than a standard 15×15 Scrabble board. The 31st row and column are so it’s got an even number of spaces on each side of center.

Of course, you’ll need some extra tiles to play on such a big board, so creator Craig Woodworks includes a bag of 400 tiles to keep you playing for hours and hours.

The handmade wood board also includes a lazy susan turntable mechanism on the bottom, so you can easily spin it around on the table. Just hope the cat doesn’t start walking across this board, or you could end up with a huge mess on your hands.

SUPER DUPER SCRABBLE is available over on Etsy for $300(USD). And if you’re just looking for a big Scrabble game without all of the extra spaces, you could always go for this version.