Vancouver artist Colin Johnson made a unique piece of furniture shaped like the AT-AT from The Empire Strikes Back. He calls it the Emperor’s Cabinet. You wouldn’t want to take down this Imperial Walker, but you would want to open it up. That’s because it’s hiding drinks behind its door.
Colin made it out of plywood, mahogany veneer, brass and glass. I wonder what a Jedi’s drink of choice would be. I assume the Sith just drink the blood and tears of their victims.
Colin is looking to sell the liquor cabinet to make room for his other projects. You can reach out to Colin on his website if you’re interested.
Have you ever accidentally formed a shape or a letter while playing Tetris? Felt swell did you? As always, the Internet is here to remind you that other people are much more awesome than your are. First up is Michael Birken, who wrote a software algorithm that can draw a portrait by playing a modified version of Tetris.
As I mentioned above, Birken’s Tetris Printer algorithm needs to use a custom variant of Tetris. The game field is bigger and the algorithm also controls the sequence of pieces. But it’s still very remarkable because it actually plays by the rule of the game, i.e. if it forms a horizontal line, that line is wiped out and so on. That means it has to go through ridiculously tedious methods to accomplish the simplest of tasks.
For instance, all tetrominoes are made of four blocks. So what if it only needs to “draw” one block? Birken states, “To generate an individual square, the algorithm assembles a structure consisting of a rectangular region fully supported by a single square protruding from the bottom. When the rectangular region is completed, its rows are cleared, leaving behind the protruding square.”
You can head to Birken’s website for his full explanation and the source code of Tetris Printer. Or just play the video below and enjoy the result:
Surely such precise manipulations can only be done by machines and their cold logic. WRONG. YouTuber John Schuepbach aka Shuey187 is the human equivalent of the Tetris Printer. As in, he doesn’t know which pieces will come out. He just plays and plays and plays, taking each little opportunity the game gives him so he can impose his will on the game’s relentless chaos. In fact, he’s been doing this way before Birken ever came up with his algorithm. Here he is painstakingly drawing Mario:
Stanford University alumni Josh Chan and Tarun Pondicherry invented LightUp, a modular electronics kit that’s as easy to use as LEGO blocks. The kits is designed to teach children the basics of electronics and computer programming.
LightUp simplifies the process of building an electronic circuit so that it won’t discourage children from experimenting and trying again if they don’t get the result they want. Instead of requiring children to use soldering materials or wires, the parts in a LightUp kit connect to each other using magnets. This means that they’re easy to put together and take apart. It also means that if you purchase more kits, you get more parts to mix and match.
One thing that LightUp kits have that LEGO toys don’t have is an augmented reality app. When you take a picture of a LightUp circuit on a mobile device, the app can point out if any of the parts are incorrectly connected. It can also show the flow of electricity throughout the circuit, as shown in the image above. Finally, LightUp can be programmed using Arduino code, so kids can jump right into coding if they want. I’m not sure if the kit will come with programming aids or lessons though.
Pledge at least $39 (USD) on Kickstarter to receive a LightUp kit as a reward. The reward tiers seem to have different kinds of kits assigned to them; I’m not sure if the more expensive kits will include all the items included in the cheaper ones, so choose your desired tier carefully.
A couple of weeks ago we saw a sweet Amazing Spider-Man costume that looks like he stepped out of a videogame or movie set. I’m not sure if Ryan Turney’s Spidey costume is superior to that one, but it is at least equally astonishing. Especially since I don’t know if it’s based on one of Marvel’s comics or if it’s Turney’s original design. From an untold tale perhaps?
The image above and the one below were both taken by Isidro Urena.
Here are some more pictures of Turney taken at the 2013 Comicpalooza:
The web backpack is an awesome touch. Check out Turney’s Facebook page for more photos of him in his Spider-Man costume.
A few years ago, hacksmith/Weapon H/H-man James Hobson made a great pair of Wolverine claws. They had this unique curved ends that made it look like the claws actually burst out in between his fingers. But when he saw Hack A Day’s electrified Mjolnir, Hobson was inspired to do the same.
Hobson hooked up the claws to an old transformer from an oil furnace. Here’s the result:
Hobson says that he could theoretically wear the electrified claws as long as he wore well-insulated gloves as well. Then maybe he can do this!
A couple of years ago we saw a Portal-themed bedroom that a father made for his son. Accountant/interior design nut/test subject Lauren recently shared her take on a Portal-themed bedroom on Reddit. It’s neat, creepy and very geeky. Doug Rattman would hate to stay here.
Lauren wanted to make it so her bedroom was filled with references to the game but still looked tidy and could be appreciated by someone who wasn’t familiar with the game. I think she didn’t quite succeed with the latter, but the room does look clean despite the grimy borders and the terrifying scrawl on her closet. The room really shines when its orange and blue LEDs take over though, especially the ones on the Portal guns and on Lauren’s infinity mirrors, which were made by her friend Steve Gilbertson.
It’s time to put your Ben Heck hat on. A company called Photon Gaming is raising funds for Darkmatter, an open source DIY kit for converting an Xbox 360 console into a laptop. Photon Gaming even claims one variant of their kit will allow you to convert an Xbox One into a laptop. I wonder if early adopters will be willing to risk losing an Xbox One for that.
The kit is available in various models depending on how much you want to pay, from just the electronics to a finished and ready to use Darkmatter Xbox 360 laptop.
Head to Kickstarter to support the world’s first open-source, hacker-friendly, 3D printed, laser-cut, honey glazed, butter side up DIY Xbox 360 laptop kit. If you pledge at least $499 (USD), you’ll qualify to get the full kit; all you’ll need is an Xbox 360 and a few hours to put the two together. But if you have more money than tinkering skills, pledge at least $999 and you’ll get a full Xbox 360 laptop as a reward.
Most comic book lovers handle their comics with care. Some of them even buy multiples of one issue or book just to have a perfectly mint copy in hand. But not Amy Watkins. She believes that if you love someone – or something – you have to cut them to pieces and turn them into another art form. KAPOW!
Watkins turns her old comics into collages that highlight comic book sound effects, from Nightcrawler’s teleportation sound to the oldie but goodie pows and blams.
You can see images of Watkins’ other collages on Design Taxi, but if I were you I’d snap up the four collages I featured on this post. Watkins is selling them on her Etsy shop PopUpCollage for just $35-$45 (USD). Those are criminally low prices for such unique and wonderful pieces. She also accepts custom orders for $50, where you get to pick the colors and sound effect to be featured.
deviantART member Callykarishokka makes very cute stuffed toys that she calls puggles. I’m not sure if she came up with the name herself or if this is a type of stuffed toy, but the name certainly fits the appearance of the toys. Most of the puggles belong in what she calls Puggleformers: adorable versions of Transformers.
The Autobot logo alone is killing me with cuteness. Cally has also made puggle versions of other geeky characters for her customers.
Sadly, Cally isn’t accepting commissions as of this writing. For now we’ll have to be content with ogling her puggles. Check out Cally’s deviantART page for more pictures.
Thanks to videogames, pinball has been relegated to a niche. But it still has its fans, some so addicted to the machines that they hang entire pinball playfields on their walls as decoration. Jeremy Williams and his friend invented Airfield, an LED kit that makes mounted or hung playfields come alive.
Airfield runs on a custom circuit board designed by Williams. It comes with 38 light cables – each with 2 LEDs at the end – plus all the materials you need to attach the board and cables to the rear of your playfield. Williams also commissioned an easy to use LED sequence program that you can find on his website. When you’re happy with the sequence you made, download it then install it to the Airfield via its microSD port (the Airfield kit already comes with a microSD card).
Skip to about 2:55 in the video below for another look at Airfield in action:
You can buy Airfield for $219 (USD) from Ledseq. I hope future models of the Airfield will have the option to add sound effects.
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
