Hasta La Gadget!

There’s just something so cool about the design of Nixie tubes – I think it’s just that for such an old technology, they’re still sort of timeless. It’s been a little while since I saw a really good looking Nixie clock though, but this one was definitely worth the wait.

The extraordinary Lamina Nixie Clock was handcrafted by artist Zoltan Acs using walnut and maple woods, along with brass gears and disks to give it a look all its own. The designer says it’s a combination of Art Deco, Industrial and Steampunk, and I think he nailed the description. He forgot to mention that it’s just freakin’ good looking.

This thing looks just as cool from the back as it does from the front.

The clock uses antique Russian Nixie vacuum tubes, along with a cool blue LED glow to make them look like they’re floating in some sort of test chambers. And even better yet, it’s got an alarm function, so you could put this thing by your bedside and wake up to it every morning.

Of course, all of this intricate craftsmanship comes at a cost. The Lamina Nixie clock is listed for €1,100.00 (~$1500 USD), which means that most of us will just have to admire it from afar. But if you’ve got deep pockets, you can purchase this amazing work of functional art over on Etsy now.

After witnessing the fall of the DS, DSi, 3DS and PlayStation Vita, it’s no surprise to hear that the Neo Geo X has succumbed to the talents of the homebrew community, but it is a little shocking how easy the handheld was to conquer. Upon cracking the device open, enthusiasts were surprised to find no copy protection to speak of — just a lightly glued MicroSD card. The folks on the Neo Geo forum wasted no time experimenting, and soon found that the handheld’s Bios and game ROMs can be successfully swapped for new games or custom loaders. Substitute files need to retain the name of the file they replace, and swapped games remain mislabeled in the Neo Geo X menu, but the trick has already allowed some users to install the popular AES Unibios. The community hopes that the discovery will eventually allow them to tweak the handheld’s TV-out resolution and enable manual switching between AES / MVS game modes. It’s hardly a “hack,” considering the SD card is completely unprotected, but it’s a good start. Check out the source link below to peer at the device’s insides, or just to watch the community in action.

Filed under: Gaming

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Via: Kotaku

Source: Neo Geo

People are coming up with all sorts of weird shoes lately, but these men’s platform shoes with aquariums in the heels might actually be the most wacky of them all. Clearly inspired by I’m Gonna Git You Sucka, they’re definitely not something you’ll be wearing to work, unless the street is your office, that is.

The style itself looks like it came straight from the seventies with the wide heels and the laces. And while they look sort-of cool (again, in a bizarre way), I’m pretty sure only a handful of guys can actually wear these shoes and manage not to look like a fool.

They’d be great for disco-themed costume parties and pimp-cosplay, though.

They’re available over on Amazon for $44 to $88(USD) a pair, depending on the pattern and size. Not recommended for actual fish.

[via 7Gadgets]

I like to think that I’m pretty plugged into retro geek culture, but I have to hand it to the guys over at You Found a Secret Area! for turning up something I’ve not seen before – a series of Atari 2600-themed cars from Hot Wheels. Oh, and you can still buy them!

The 1/64th scale die-cast vehicle series is packaged on cards that look like classic Atari 2600 games, including Breakout, Centipede, Pong, Missile Command, and Tempest. There’s even an Atari 2600 party bus (aka Urban Assault Vehicle) for good measure. I’m not sure if the vehicles really make much sense, but they’re still an awesome bit of swag for any collector of Atari 2600 memorabilia. My personal favorite has to be the Centipede monster machine – it totally reminds me of the 1970s with its funny car styling and giant exhaust headers.

Here are a bunch of detailed video shots of each vehicle, courtesy of Hot Wheels Nation:

You can find them over on Amazon for $9.99(USD) each. But you’d better move fast before they all become as hard to find as a copy of Air Raid.

Like many of you out there, I can’t wait until Star Trek: Into Darkness hits theaters next Summer. In the mean time, I have to be satisfied with other forms of Trekkism to keep my mind occupied – like this clever Starship Enterprise model, made from a defunct hard drive.

Actually, it was made from an old hard drive, bits of a dead mother board, and a laptop keyboard by geeky crafter Daniel Shankalonian. The drive platters make the perfect primary hull and bridge of the trusty old NCC-1701, while I don’t quite recognize what parts make up the warp nacelles and engineering section of the ship. The model also comes with a matching stand, made from a hard drive case and some busted headphone parts. Fascinating, Jim.

This isn’t the only U.S.S. Enterprise model that Daniel has built. This one is actually “version 2.1,” and he’s also got recycled part models of the U.S.S. Kelvin and Klingon Bird of Prey up for sale at the moment. There’s also an awesome X-Wing Fighter if you’re more into Wars than Trek. You can check out all of his nifty models over on Daniel’s Etsy shop.