Hasta La Gadget!

If you are a fan of Doctor Who, you have probably seen the 50th anniversary episode called “The Day of the Doctor.” In that episode, you might recall the fancy sonic screwdriver that the War Doctor used.

ThinkGeek has the official replica of the War Doctor’s sonic screwdriver compete with sound and light effects. This battery-operated sonic screwdriver has four sound effects and the LED on its tip lights up red and amber.

The replica is operated using a slider on the side. The entire thing measures 8.25-inches long and about 1-inch wide at the widest point. You can grab the War Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver from ThinkGeek for $29.99(USD).

While many of us fans of classic arcade games would love to have a whole roomful of old arcade cabinets, we don’t always have the space, the money, or the understanding significant other to allow for such dalliances. ArcadeLights has the next best thing.

Instead of filling up tons of space with a complete arcade cabinet, ArcadeLights takes original game marquees and mounts them into wall sconces. They come in a wide variety of designs, and are the perfect addition to your gameroom. Whether you’re looking for Pac-Man, Asteroids, Moon Patrol, or TRON, they’ve got you covered.

Prices range from about $85 up to $225(USD) depending on the rarity and cost of the particular marquee. Head on over to their Etsy shop now to check their current stock. Keep in mind that due to the age of these marquees, they’re not all in perfect condition, but that just adds to the arcade-y charm, IMHO.

And if you miss playing the classics, you can always load up some games on your arcade emulator while you admire your shiny new wall light.

Do you have a round table in your court, but no lighting in your castle that goes with it? Make yourself a cool knight lamp! It’s also perfect for illuminating your next D&D game night.

Best of all, you can make it by using some fairly inexpensive parts. Just follow Mr. Hyde’s directions over on Instructables. You’ll need a knight’s helm of course, a few wires and metal tubing. Oh, and a crankshaft from a car, but that’s optional. I suppose if you use a cam shaft, your knight lamp will be from Cam-elot. Get it? Ha ha. That was terrible.

With this lamp, your lighting will be much more medieval. Turn it on and pass the mead and a giant turkey leg. Tonight we feast by the helm of the man you have bested in DIY combat.

[via Nerd Approved]

Cell phones are great, but they aren’t always cheap – especially after you get wrangled into a service contract. If you want all of the basic functions of a phone, but don’t want phone manufacturers to get your money, just make one yourself. Sure, it won’t have all of the bells and whistles of a real phone and it won’t look as polished, but at least you had a neat project and created something.

This do-it-yourself cell phone by David A. Mellis really works. It will make and receive calls, send out texts, and display the time. No mobile gaming on this phone, but for homemade, it’s not bad. It builds on the hardware and software in the Arduino GSM Shield but extends it with a full interface, including display, buttons, speaker, microphone, and more. You can choose from a grey LCD or red LED dot-matrix display. Plus, you can decorate the wood case pretty much any way you’d like.

The main circuit board will cost you $60(USD), but the completed phone will cost you about $200 in parts. Okay, so it isn’t cheap after all, but it will be a fun project and maybe you will learn something along the way. Go all get the details here, and check out more photos of the DIY cell phone’s various incarnations on Flickr.

[via This Is Why I’m Broke]

As far as I’m concerned, your dining room can never have too many tentacles. So if you have an extra few grand, this stained glass octopus chandelier can be yours. It even has detachable limbs that can hold candles and glow.

Imagine that Octopus looking down on you are you eat all of your meals, just glowing as if almost ready to attack you and drag you into it’s lair. It was made by Mason Parker of Mason’s Creations. Parker says that each of the tentacles would be about 30 inches-long if they were stretched out, and the lamp itself measures four feet across as it is.

The body and the tentacles can light up separately or all at once. So how menacing it is, is up to you. If you want it, it will cost you $18,000(USD). When you think about it, that’s just $2,250 per tentacle.

[Steampunk Tendencies  via io9]