Eric Gradman built his own MAME gaming system from a 15-inch LCD, Happ controls and an Ultimarc I-PAC, and fitted it into an extendable dining table that he bought from IKEA. "There's always someone who doesn't feel comfortable around large groups of people, and so he sits at the table playing video games," he says. The full photo-set is on Flickr, but you can see some of the pics in our gallery below.

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The Nerf N-Strike Longshot CS-6, to give it its full name, is the kind of blaster gun that your kid would kill for. It's also the kind of thing that would be a gift in name only, because, any child will have problems prying it out of a parent's hands once unwrapped. And it works just as well at close range as it does on long targets:

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When Solid Alliance and Christmas meet, there can only be one winner: fans of all things USB. What collector of dumb peripheral stuff could refuse this Christmas cake, complete with 1GB memory key strawberries? And then you see what else they use to decorate the cake.

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European wireless provider Vodafone on Monday obtained a Court order that requires rival T-Mobile Germany to sell Apple Inc.'s iPhone handset to Germans without a service plan. [AppleInsider]

The Blackberry Pearl 8120 has been spotted on the FCC, with GPS, a standard headhone jack, Stereo A2DP Bluetooth and Wi-Fi (no 3G, however). Could be a great T-Mobile@Home phone for roaming between hotspots and cell towers, seamlessly. [PhoneScoop]

It is unfortunate, and maybe a bit mean, but I feel compelled to point out the headline in the screenshot, "Dell. Now available in Beautiful", as flawed. The problem with it is that it—correct me if I'm wrong—implies that all previous dells were not available in anything except ugly. And the clean lines of an HP laptop (as well as their rising sales over the last few quarters) would not beg to differ, although I think the XPS line is fast and not so bad on the eyes. [Dell]

As cool as we find the whole modular open-source electronics concept that Bug Labs has conjured up, we share some of the confusion and curiosity that you do about how this baby's gonna fly. We sat down with CEO Peter Semmelhack and, in addition to giving us the first look at the powered-on Bug itself, he answered some of our most burning questions:

• Who will buy this device—besides hackers, that is?
• What is the ultimate Bug module combination?
• How will you avoid comparisons to the revered yet ill-fated Handspring?
• Are there any scenarios where an LCD screen wouldn't be used?
• So, when and where can we buy our own Bug combos?

After you watch the vid, let us know what's on your mind. (He may have answered it already, we couldn't include everything in this clip here.) [Bug Labs]

When adults design a laptop for children, it looks like the OLPC or Speak and Spell. When laptops are designed by children they look like the setup above. The PurC PC (Purple Construction Paper PC, my name) was made by an 8-year old girl in the youngster-founded, no-adults-allowed "The Laptop Club".

Alphanumerics are pegged where function keys are normally situated. Below are the real function keys, like, "kitten, dog, cat, bird, collar, lease, hamster, and design pet." There's the unfortunate, "Buy Immediately, shop, order", too. Corruption starts so young. Too bad Fake Steve Jobs already has a patent on Child-Like-Wonder in Computing Device(s)— he told me the C&Ds are in the mail for the lower 98-percentile of the club, and the other 2% are being taken from their parents to be trained as 5th generation Apple designers. There are 8 more models at The Morning News, so check em out. [CNet via TheMorningNews via BoingBoing]

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Instructables has a tutorial on a CD repair technique designed to bring nearly any disc (barring any cracks, breaks, etc...) back from the dead. The fix requires you to heat the underside of the CD over a gas burner, boil it in water and dry off your freshly resurfaced disc. The process seems to leave a slim margin of error, so if you're trying to recover something valuable, you better know what you're doing. [Instructables]

The N810 tablet, with its keyboard, GPS, linux OS, Wi-Fi but no cellular connection is on sale today. Long Live the PDA/UMPC? [Nokia]

CrunchGear's Matt Hickey wrote a good how-to on upgrading your iPod touch's firmware to 1.1.2 without sacrificing the ability to download third party apps. The process is farily simple; it involves downgrading to 1.1.1 (if you're not there already), downloading and installing a program through installer.app called OktoPrep, upgrading to firmware 1.1.2 and finally running Jailbreak 1.1.2. For all the nuances, check out the post at [Crunch Gear].

These are about the creepiest cellphone accessories we've ever seen: Androgynous babies tied up S&M style dangling from your cellphone. The disturbingly satisfied Kewpie Dolls are available with five different rope colours for about $6. If you wanna feel really icky, check out the promo shot after the jump, which makes the orgy above look PG: There's fire, drugs and Kewpies. Seriously.

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Fast lane daily has a video of the Nissan GT-R, with rare footage of that amazing instrument cluster designed by Gran Turismo game designers. Fast forward past the talking head to witness footage of the boost gauge, lateral and longitudinal G-forces (over time!), among many other stats, at your fingertips. Might have been better to build this stuff into HUD, as you don't want to be staring at the digital cluster pack for longer than you need to in a 3-second car. [Fast Lane Daily]

In the tradition of Dr. Frog and Botanicalls comes Thirsty Light, a $10 sensor that sits in your potted plant and blinks when the soil goes dry. You get to trade all that anxiety for a straightforward Pavlovian response: you see a blinky light, and you water your plant. Alternatively, there's a "quick-check" method: buy one and walk around the house with it, sticking it in all your plants. When you are done, you can even turn it off to save juice. OK, I'm sold—I'll take one. (I just noticed you can buy 12 for $84—that's how they get you: the damn volume discount!) [Thirsty Light]

Jalopnik reports that Moller, makers of the M400 flying car vapor we've come to love inhaling, have "substantial doubts" the cars will ever get off the ground.

They've always been confident, even if the public hasn't, so this is a change of tune for the futurist company. Moller posted a quarterly loss of $81, 071, bringing their deficit to $40.6 million, and they've cited the need for more money to continue operations and manufacturing of flying cars. (Oh coincidence, that's the same reason why my flying car isn't for sale yet.) I'm wondering if Ford could buy the company and pull off the production, considering ex-Boeing executive Alan Mulally is the helm...but now I'm just acting desperate. [Jalopik]

Well, I've reached the point where I can really ham it up now. If I'm wandering around town looking like some crazy 70s throwback, how about you throw me a few bucks. Even just a couple would be a big help with so many of you out there. C'mon, give a little love to charity. Thanks again to those who have. My details again:

Rego: 126828 [Movember]

If you consider yourself something of a handyman, my guess is that your toolbox at home has become increasingly filled with laser guided goodies over the last few years. That having been said, feast your eyes on this new laser guided hand saw. I could be wrong, but it seems like it would be fairly difficult to maintain a straight line with the beam flailing wildly about as you work — but hey...it has a laser on it! Available for $19.99 [Product Page via Uberreview]

Meant for your kitchen countertop, this 20-inch stainless-steel LCD TV will match most of your other kitchen wares, and comes with a water-resistant remote for accidental splashage. The resolution isn't specified, though it's an HDTV with an HDMI input. Granted, if you're just using it to follow along with Alton Brown on Good Eats 1080p's probably not much of a concern. The price might be, though, at $600. [Frontgate via Crave]

According to Kansas.com, Airbus SAS plans to build a 900-seat version of its famously enormous A380 superjumbo. Currently, the A380 is intended to carry between 500-800 passengers depending on the configuration — although it has held up to 873, on at least one occasion. That could mean that a "stretch" Airbus A380 could be adjusted to hold as many as 1000 passengers depending on the carrier. Airbus will begin developing the larger version after the standard plane reaches full production in 2010. The Arab Emirates, the companies biggest client, has already shown interest saying that they would buy a new model when they become available. [Kansas via Luxist]

OK, you can take your tinfoil hats off now. German site Heise Online has tested Hackint0sh user XianLi's claims about the iPhone sending its IMEI to Apple while accessing the web. According to Heise and other sources, this is not true:

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After the sheriff's office busted six dudes in July and a male teacher a week ago, Martin County commissioner Michael DiTerlizzi has had it with the wave of Larry Craigs getting it on around his beaches. Solution? $5500 solar-powered cameras that flash a bright light and spout off a verbal warning when they detect motion. A minute later, they start recording whatever action's in front of them.

The commish—who seems entirely too hot on this project—wants them "everywhere on the beaches and parking" except bathrooms (hmm...), because "anything that deters that kind of activity is going to be good." Los Angeles uses the Big Bro FlashCAMs as well—to stop vandalism, not dudes boinking. [Palm Beach Post via The Raw Feed]

If you are as blind as I am, you have probably noticed that glasses are outrageously expensive. Naturally, that means that style often takes a back seat to price when picking up frames. The "Switch Glasses" concept by Hyo-Jong Kim aims to change all that with lenses that can be spun around for two distinct looks.

That means you can wear a conservative style to work that says "I am an intelligent individual that should be taken seriously," and flip the frames around on Friday night to reveal a style that says "get a few beers in me and I'll run through this bar naked. Are you calling me a liar? I'll punch you in the face right now." Again, it is only a concept at this point, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it at a Lens Crafters sometime in the not too distant future. [Yanko Design via Sci Fi Tech]

NVIDIA got official today with its GeForce 8800M GTX and GTS notebook GPUs, which you might remember from the fresh-out-the-door Alienware beast from a few hours ago. Mark Rein, Epic Games' VP is "ordering one" exclamation point, if that makes you more blisteringly excited. [Nvidia]

Nintendo's gun peripheral has a slot for your Wiimote, and comes with Link's Crossbow training. It's no duck hunt, but it's really fun. The Good: High build quality, battery-less design, fairly accurate, Tommy-gun design of the Wii Zapper makes me feel like Wii Capone. Inexpensive, since it doesn't introduce electrics, depending on the Wiimote's exisiting buttons. Fun would be an understatement.

The Bad: The "A" button is awkward to hit, any sort of gangster sideways pistol action hurts accuracy. (Like in real life?) Unlike light guns, the Wiimote's aim does not literally translate into direct targeting; hence, aiming toward the edge of large screens makes accuracy dive. You're meant to shoot from the hip with this setup.

The amusingly named peripherals manufacturer Thrustmaster has launched the T. Flight Stick X, describing it as the "World's first PS3 joystick." This should be welcome news for flight-sim fans —as long as your favourite game doesn't exclusively utilize the motion sensor, which renders the device useless.

Still, the device has plenty to offer, like rudder and throttle control, airbrake or rapid-fire triggers, a mapping button, easy configuration switching, a slew of programmable buttons and axis, and PC compatibility. It even comes pre-configured for Blazing Angels on the PS3 and Flight Simulator X on the PC. Available for $50. (Product Page via Register Hardware via Wired]

Dell's exclusively got the Wolfking Warrior Xxtreme gamepad right now for $80. That much extreme for only 80 bucks might be a Dealzmodo. [Dell Gaming via Electronista]

PS3 outsells Wii for first time ever
Handheld consoles still top of the heap.

Amazon Kindle launch event
Lots of coverage: free EV-DO; How to use video; and Hands on.

Amazon Kindle vs Sony Reader Bitchfight
Kindle might be newer, but locked up commercial model makes Sony's a better deal.

Honda FCX Clarity hydrogen car tested (Verdict: Star Trek)
Screw hybrid, let's just get to true clean fuel ASAP, huh?

Dell matches Asus Eee with US$399 Vostro 1000
Same US price, genuine 15.4-inch notebook quality.

The HXC5 HDMI-over-CAT-5 system is being billed as a simple "plug and play" solution for sending HDMI signals over large distances —164 feet (50 meters) to be exact. The manufacturer also claims that this signal is "virtually loss free." The device utilizes balanced/unbalanced signal processing to ensure full hi-def signal integrity for all video formats up to and including 1080p and it is HDMI v1.2 / HDCP compliant.

The HXC5 requires a double-run of standard CAT5/5E/6 network cabling and it is packaged as a complete, ready-to-connect system —including a compact "balun" transmitter and receiver. Could definitely be a valuable problem-solving tool for anyone setting up a serious home theater. Available now for $600. [Tributaries]

Pioneer's launched an invite-only beta of its online TV download service, SyncTV, which has unlimited downloads in channels for $2 to $4 a month per channel. Shows outside of your subscription run $2. The selling point is that everything's in at least DVD quality, and in HD w/ 5.1 Dolby surround when possible. And it'll run on Windows, Macs and Linux. [SyncTV via Electronic House]

Tiny and piano black, one of the Sense's better features is that it might make you look less douche-y than more space-age Bluetooth headsets. The talk dimple is endowed with touch-sensitive magic, plus it has voice alerts for stuff like redialing, rejecting a call, connecting or disconnecting for your phone, etc. The wire ear hook is also detachable for goggle-eyed gabbers. It streets early next year for about $100. [Bluetrek via Pocket Lint]

An internal Dell document for the Latitude XT Tablet has surfaced, more or less confirming previously leaked specs, while revealing a few new ones.

The internal document shows the XT will have a 1.2 GHz Core 2 Duo Ultra Low Voltage processor, 1 gig of RAM (expandable to 3), Bluetooth 2.0 and built-in mobile broadband. Other cool features include a biometric reader, ambient light sensor, digital array microphone, and a score of quick control macros along the screen bezel. The media bay can also support a dual-layer DVD burner, or an additional 80GB HDD.

Another point of interest is that the document had the XT lined up for release last month. I'm curious as to what caused the delay on this, seeing as it would have been popular this holiday season. [istartedsomething]

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With the inclusion of two 512 MB GeForce Go 8800GTX graphics cards, the Black-Hawk XR5 will be the first laptop to feature such graphical power. Along with a 17-inch screen, Core 2 Quad processor and EV-DO support, Black-Hawk clearly is not messing around, and intend for the XR5 to be a Desktop replacement.

However, our friends over at Maximum PC say the XR5 images shown are renders (vapor alert!), and with so much horsepower in this thing, it will probably run hot, making it not lap-friendly. No price has been announced as of yet, but if all goes to plan the Black-Hawk XR5 will reach consumers in December, hopefully with a good cooling system. [PC Microworks via ubergizmo via Sci Fi]

Forget Kindle, this is much more awesome. It's a "Revoltech Danboard, Amazon box version," but to me it looks like the kodama with clicking heads from Princess Mononoke, except with Amazon stamped all over it. The only thing that would make it better is if this was a regular shipping box that transformed into the robot after you pulled your goods out. Or if they shipped it outside of Japan. (They don't.) [Amazon.jp via Hobby Blog via Gadget Lab]

Today, for the first time, Bug Labs CEO Peter Semmelhack is showing off a genuine powered-up prototype of the modular, open-source consumer-electronics device. Want a camera? Snap it on. Want GPS? Go for it. Here you see him attaching touchscreen LCDs, motion sensor, camera, 3G wireless LAN and GPS. It's powered up, and the PDA app works (as you can see in the gallery), but Bug isn't showing us full functionality yet, so for that you will have to stay tuned. [Bug Labs]