So this is kind of a DIY project, if for no other reason then you can’t buy this, but you can buy all the parts (and download the instructions) on how to build it. I’m not going to lie to you and tell you that it’s easy, but the end result is incredibly cool. You’re going to need to take apart a camera release, a WarioWare: Twisted cartridge, and don’t even think about using this on a DSi. What’s the gain? Well, there’s a fairly large homebrew community sprouting up, but the basic set up gives you a sound activate trigger, motion sensor, time-lapse, and sun and moon rise awareness. Considering that this is a just a bunch of hackers building something that they couldn’t buy color me impressed. My only question is when can I get one for my Nikon?

[via Electronista]

Here’s something old, but definitely cool and worth showing you. Livejournal user Igor113 posted some pictures from his trip to… somewhere in Russia. He loves to travel and take pictures, and these are some extremely cool photographs of some rusted and cool equipment. Igor did apologize for the quality of his camera though, and requests that you don’t kick his legs.

The submarine pictures aren’t the only cool things on Igor’s site, he’s apparently traveled all over the EU and taken many many pictures of defunct Russian military vehicles and aircraft. I’d definitely recommend checking out some of his other posts as well.

Note that instead of bright lights the Sony booth actually used big dishes made of aluminum foil to focus light on the booth.

The Cyclops originally came out with a white face, and a multicolored dial. Cool looking, sure, but not really striking (at least to me). The Special Edition however, is an all black case, with black face and shades of grey for the hour indicators. Very cool looking. One potential issue of note however, you don’t want to be in a situation where you need really accurate time if you are wearing a Cyclops. It’s more of a best guess time piece, rather then something that’ll give you an exact time.

The Mr. Jones Cyclops Special Edition Black is available for $184 online. Don’t expect to see this one at your local jeweler.

What’s even better is that the microscope can get a side view. Some materials are so reflective that they can’t get a good angled shot on them to show the complete picture. Luckily, due to a record being black it will allow for some amazing shots.

[Via Reddit]

Whoa, whoa, whoa, look what you can do with the internet!

According to the video’s description:

“Brian at CAIN MOSNI thought of a cool concept and coordinated a virtual “jam session” with musicians from all over the world!”

Very, very cool.

[YouTube via Gizmodo]

What you get is a digital version of every issue, including the articles, pictures, maps, advertisements, everything that’s made NatGeo great over the years. It comes on a 160GB external hard drive, of which only 60GB is actually pre-loaded. Of course, you could probably pick up a 160GB drive for only $80, but it wouldn’t have all the NatGeo content. The package also comes with a DVD offering tips on better photography, a behind the scenes look at how National Geographic is produced and interviews with some of the photographers about their most famous pictures. It’ll set you back $199.95, but I think it’s totally worth it. Honestly, I’ll probably be ordering a copy for my personal library.

[via Download Squad]

Michael Lowdermilk sent this in to our tips e-mail address with the line, “I wanted to get your feedback on this new product I’ve been working on. It’s a custom wall outlet with built in USB charge ports.”

My feedback is as follows: move forward with this. It is a good idea. I will probably eventually buy one.

The “TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built in USB Ports” is available for pre-order at FastMac.com and is expected to ship early next year. Apparently it’s “currently waiting on final UL Approval,” which is a good thing for safety’s sake.

TruePower UCS Power Outlet With Built in USB Ports [FastMac.com]

Okay, just humor me and watch the video, please. It’s not like I get paid to describe things with… those… um, you know, the things that make stuff readable. With individual letters, etc. And periods, commas — the things in between those.

This here’s an interactive, outdoor electronic snowball fight comprised of two life size animated characters made from decorative Christmas lights. Two human players control each animated character, making them either duck or throw snowballs (also made from Christmas lights) at the other. You can’t duck and throw at the same time though.

If nobody’s around to play, the two characters will continue to lob snowballs at each other automatically. Say hello to the new coolest house in the neighborhood, all thanks to Arduino.

[via MAKE]

As you moved through the building carrying the clock you would have to fit each key into the watchclock. The clock then noted the time and location of each winding, ensuring that the watchman didn’t just bugger off and drink whiskey.

From a mechanical perspective, it’s a pretty cool system. From a UI nerd perspective, its an example of a rails shooter or a “behavioral control:”

From a behavioral perspective, I find the watchclock fascinating not simply because it’s a kind of steampunk GPS, a wind-up mechanical location-awareness technology. I’m further fascinated at how this holistic system of watchclocks, keys, guards, and supervisors succeeded so completely in creating a method of behavioral control such that a human being’s movements can be precisely planned and executed, hour after hour and night after night, with such a high degree of reliability that almost a century goes by before anyone thinks of ways of improving the system as originally conceived. The watchclock is a primitive form of technology-mediated interaction design and narrowly-focused social engineering: The “interface” is the whole system: The watchclock, keys, and paper records.

I’m going to get a kit put into my house so I can make the rounds between our two bathrooms during the day.

Wow. Jerry Jalava lost the tip of his left ring finger in a motorcycle accident and made his own prosthetic fingertip which doubles as a USB memory stick.

The prosthetic is removable so, according to Jerry, “when I’m using the USB, I just leave my finger inside the slot and pick it up after I’m ready.” Jalava is planning to build a second prosthetic memory finger that will also contain an RFID tag.

USB finger, more details [ProtoBlogr.net via Geekologie]

A guy over on the HyperSpin/HyperPin forums did just that and uploaded the following video to YouTube for the whole world to see. Looks pretty nice, no?

[via Offworld]

I don’t have the time, patience, carpentry skills, open space, or wherewithal to build my own trebuchet but after seeing Mark Winkler’s “Mongo the Trebuchet” launch a flaming ball of fire across an open field under the cover of darkness, I suddenly have the urge to go to Home Depot with a quick stop at the local Fireball Emporium (or wherever they sell fireballs).

If you’d like to get right to the good stuff in the above video, skip forward to about the 2:55 mark to see everything in action. The rest of the video is pretty interesting, too, though.

Geeks are Sexy [via Neatorama]

Wow. Here’s a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Hatfield Hotdog Launcher that’s brought out in between innings at the Phillies’ games. A lot of work went into getting all the science-y stuff right and even then, sometimes the hot dogs fly out of their wrappers mid-flight (watch at about the five-minute mark). Very cool.

Hats off to Joshua Callaghan of Los Angeles for coming up with a way to not only hide those utility boxes you see all over your neighborhood, but to also turn each one into something of a conversation piece. Callaghan calls it “public art” after answering a call from the city of Los Angeles to somehow disguise the boxes.

More photos after the jump…

Public Art [JoshuaCallaghan.com via Telegraph.co.uk]

I’m not one to get overly excited about the technology behind transportation logistics (or am I?) but this thing from HP looks pretty cool. It’s basically a handheld wireless-enabled barcode scanner that can also print quick-drying ink directly onto boxes.

So if you work at, say, UPS, you scan a box coming in, that info is transmitted wirelessly to your warehouse servers, and then you print another barcode or “FRAGILE” or some other message onto the package itself, all in the blink of an eye.

Check out this video to see it in action.

[via Treehugger]

Jalopnik has a pretty extensive photo gallery of the second-generation Tornado Intercept Vehicle (TIV) from Discovery’s Storm Chasers series. For the uninitiated, the tank-like TIV is able to drive into the middle of tornados, allowing owner Sean Casey to film from the inside out in high definition. If you haven’t seen the show, check it out.

The TIV2 weighs a staggering nine tons and gets 12 MPG from its 92-gallon gas tank. Its key feature is the 360-degree steel turret that sticks out the top of the vehicle. That’s where Casey and his camera spend most of their time.

It’s entirely possible that most ordinary people won’t ever have the problem of trying to figure out what to do with two empty fire extinguishers (that’s a lot of fires) but just keep this idea in your back pocket should the scenario ever present itself.

A Russian man has turned a couple of spent fire extinguishers into some pretty cool-looking speakers. It’d be an understatement to say that the process looks a bit daunting for those of us without extensive metal cutting and welding experience.

Oh, and it also might help if you speak Russian, as the step-by-step process is written entirely in that language. So welding, metal cutting, and Russian. If all three check out, you, too, could have a set of awesome fire extinguisher speakers.

[TopMods.net via technabob]

This old girl has been stripped of all over component parts, hollowed out and filled with a CPU and lots of cool audio circuitry. The result? The Fender Bender, more machine than guitar, more monster than musical instrument.

The creator, Dan, even made a pickguard out of an old motherboard, soldering out each resistor with a burning cigarette that he held in his mouth threateningly. It appears he’s using sound gear from here but I’m not quite sure which model.