Cart Notes: You Can Read These Cartridges without Blowing on Them

I think back to the days of my old 8-bit NES console and when games came on cartridges. There were definitely advantages of the medium, in that you never had to worry about scratched discs, and they loaded instantly. On the other hand, the contacts got all dirty and dusty and you either had to blow on them or clean them with an eraser to get them to work sometimes. You won’t have to worry about that with these cartridges, though.

cart notes 1

That’s because all of the data that’s written to Cart Notes is displayed right on the outside, in plain sight. They look just like the old NES carts, but are actually sticky notes.

cart notes 2

Fangamer sells Cart Notes in three-packs for $8(USD), which include orange, green and blue accent colors, and 50 notes per-pack, for a total of 150 sheets of paper. I’m pretty sure that wouldn’t be enough space to write down all of the source code from Duck Hunt, but it is plenty good enough for writing down grocery lists and other reminders.

 

Dollar Bill Art: Defacing Currency for Our Amusement

Now I’m pretty sure it’s illegal to draw on U.S. currency, but the way I see it, it’s your money and you should be allowed to do what you want with it. So while these hacked dollar bills are probably no longer legal tender, they are pretty damned awesome anyhow.

funny money 1

funny money 2

funny money 6

funny money 7

I can’t decide if Bob Ross, the Oompa Loompa or the Lincoln Facehugger is my favorite. All I know is that I’d totally use cash more often than my debit card if paper money were this funny.

[Various Sources via Imgur]

Portal Cookie Cutters Open a Portal to Your Tummy

Portal is one of the best puzzle-solving games of all time, IMHO. That said, I’ve played through every level of both Portal and Portal 2, and really am jonesing for some new Portal goodness. While it may be a while before Portal 3 gets made, I guess I’ll have to fill that empty place in my heart with some empty carbs. At least if they’re Portal cookies, that might cheer me up a little bit.

portal cookie cutters

These fun cookie cutters were made by Athey Moravetz of WarpZone, and are designed to look like the guy on the warning posters in the games – you know, the little split-in-half dude. You can use them to serve up individual half-cookies, or if you’re feeling generous, you can stick two together using some blue and orange icing to reconstitute a full man-cookie.

If they weren’t cool enough already, they’re also made using 3D printing technology, for added geek cred. You can grab a pair over on Etsy for $5.50(USD).

The cake may have been a lie, but the cookies don’t have to be.

Crib Dribbler Feeds Your Baby So You Can Sleep, Eat, and Do Whatever You Want

Taking care of babies is hard. You have to feed them every few hours, check them if they’ve pooped or peed regularly, and change them if they did. I stayed with my sister once when she just had her baby and all I can say is, it was a pretty exhausting ordeal.

No wonder people came up with tools like the Crib Dribbler…

Crib DribblerIf you look closely, you’ll see that the Crib Dribbler resembles the water feeders for your dogs and cats, where milk or water trickles out when the tube is licked. In a similar manner, you can expect milk to flow out when your baby crawls over to the Dribbler and gives it a couple of licks.

Crib Dribbler1

It’s a funny concept, but obviously it’s not real and even if it were, I doubt any sane parents would go for it. It’s the latest of a series of prank gift boxes from PrankPack, and we think it’s hilarious. Each box sells for $8(USD). If you do decide to use it to give something to new parents, make sure to bring a camera so you can capture their expression when they check the box. It’s going to be priceless.

[via BitRebels]

TMNT Flower Pots: Heroes in Your Herb Garden

While I usually associate the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles with unhealthy food like pizza, it turns out the turtles can also be used to encourage healthy eating. Assuming, that is, that you plant some delicious edible plants and herbs in these TMNT flower pots and don’t use them to serve slices of cold pizza.

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They’re handpainted by artist John Moriarty, and 50 bucks buys you the complete set of four pots, including Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael and Michaelangelo. And if you don’t have a green thumb, you could always use these for storing pens, pencils, action figures, katanas or other whatnots.

tmnt pots 1

You can find the full set over on Ginger Pots Etsy shop, where you can also fill your garden with pots adorned with Mario, Sonic, Optimus Prime and The Avengers among others.


Doctor Who Drops in on Nativity Scene

Nativity scenes could use some spicing up. I’m sick and tired of seeing sheep and donkeys and the three wise men. We need to make nativities more geeky. And this is a great way to start. By introducing the Fourth Doctor into the scene. Maybe he can offer baby Jesus a Jelly Baby.
doctor who nativity
Although, I personally think the Doctor should be Matt Smith. And forget Joseph and Mary too. If you use Matt Smith, you have to use Amy and Rory, with a Weeping Angel behind them, while they all look over a baby River song. But that’s just me. I’m more geeky than religious, though.

Maybe the three wise men can be Cybermen in robes. Hmmm. I might just have to make one of these for myself.

[via Neatorama]


Game of Thrones Soap: Hygiene is Coming

Do you want to smell like one of the houses from Game of Thrones? Maybe the Lannisters? How about the Starks? Let’s face it, you wouldn’t want to smell like most characters from Westeros. Except for Denerys. You know that she smells good. You can’t look that good and not smell good – even if you have been walking through the Red Waste for weeks. But everyone in the seven kingdoms might smell nicer if they had these soaps.
Game of Thrones soap
These house sigil soaps by GeekSoap are pretty neat. They will evoke sweet scents that make you think of each house. There’s Stark, Lannister, Baratheon, and Targaryen. The Lannister scent is “Pride” made from patchouli, plumeria, and orange. I guess that seems about right. Stark’s scent is “Betrayal,” a crisp combination of pine, cedar, and eucalyptus with just a hint of campfire. Yep. That’s how I always imagined they would smell. You get the idea.

There’s no Greyjoy because no one wants to smell like salt water and seaweed. They are just $6(USD) each. Or you could just pay the iron price.

[via Nerd Approved]


The Chiptastic Chiptune List Will Have You Buried in 8-Bit Tunes for Months

If you’re into retro style beep and bleeps and beats, then here’s a fun way to discover lots of cool chiptune acts – many of whom you’ve never heard of before. A group of chiptune artists and fans has compiled the Chiptastic Chipmusic List, or as I like to call it The Ultimate Chiptune List.

chiptune list

The Facebook-compiled list currently showcases over 360 different chiptune performers, including links to their websites, Soundcloud, Bandcamp, or Facebook pages, as well as links to a number of streaming chipmusic radio stations. Whether you’re into chiptunes or just like retro gaming, you’ll discover all kinds of sweet new electronic music by clicking around to the artists on the list. Some of my faves: Abducted by SharksMario Frog Suit, I Set My Pixels on Fire, Solarbear and PandaSTAR.

And while we’re on the subject of chiptunes, here’s some cool sounds from the monthly Philadelphia chipmusic showcase show 8static:

After you’re done listening to the concert footage above, head on over to the Chiptastic Chipmusic List on Facebook. Be sure to post a comment below and us know who your favorites are!

[Thanks for the tip, Jesse!]


Bookworm Wrap-Around Bookshelf Chair Gives Bookworms Their Own Little Book Nook

Now here’s another piece of furniture that book lovers would love to own: the Bookworm. It reminds me a little of the Sunflower Chair, which features a plushy seat that’s surrounded by a roundabout bookshelf.

Bookworm WraparoundThe Bookworm also features a seat surrounded by shelves all around, but in a different, more modern kind of way. The seat doesn’t look as cushy, but it still definitely looks like a comfortable place to get your read on.

The shelf is supported by a single stainless steel leg that’s attached to one side – presumably that’s all it needs to keep from falling over. The rest of the chair is constructed from thin sheets of MDF and flexible plywood.

Bookworm Wraparound1

The Bookworm is available for purchase from Atelier 010. They’re made to order, so if you’re interested, send the makers an email to ask for the price and make your order.

[via Gizmag]


Radiolaria Lets You Design Your Own Custom Organic Jewelry in Seconds

Looking for a totally unique piece of jewelry? Well it doesn’t get more special than a piece you designed yourself. And thanks to an awesome app from the guys over at Nervous System, you can create your own earrings, necklaces and other art objects in a snap.

radiolaria app

Their Radiolaria website lets you design and preview your own jewelry and art pieces that you can construct simply by clicking a few buttons. By manipulating a grid of honeycomb-like cells, you can create a huge number of cool “bio-inspired” designs in seconds. Here are a few example designs I knocked out while writing this post:

radiolaria jewelry

And here’s a demo of Radiolaria in action:

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Not only can you change designs and sizes, but choose from stainless steel or 24K gold-plated stainless for jewelry, and bamboo or black wool felt for trivets or other art objects. Metal items are photochemically etched out of metal, while wood and felt objects are laser-cut.

radiolaria trivets

Once you’ve created your design, you can scale it, share it and purchase it if you so choose. Prices range from as little as $7 for a really small and simple form to hundreds of dollars, depending on the size, complexity and material selected. Head on over to the Radiolaria app right now if you’d like to play with it, while there’s still time to order custom pieces for Christmas delivery.

While you’re over there, you can always check out Nervous System’s original app, which lets you design custom 3D-printed jewelry.