handmade
Robots
Mutant Solar Powered Doohickey Monster Brings a Touch of Ugly to Any Room
10:40AM Sean Fallon | I think the term “handmade” just about covers this, this…whatever it is. For about $US80 you to can own this freaky electronic Frankenstein that does nothing but consume sunlight and writhe around in agony. More »
Games
Straight-Up Wall Chess Makes Knocking-Over Your King More Dramatic
4:40AM Kit Eaton | Sure, these chess sets aren’t quite as neat as the vertical Tri-D chess in Star Trek, but by turning the game through 90 degrees and hanging it on the wall they do turn it into a sort of art masterpiece. That’d be assuming you play well—with my playing style it’d be more like a kid’s painting disaster. Still, toppling your king from the board in resignation does get an extra kind of fatal symbolism. The choice of wood is customisable, and they cost upwards of $US100. [Straightupchess via Neatorama] More »
Vehicles
Handmade Scythe Car Looks Like a Toy, is KITT-like Computerised
10:30PM Kit Eaton | It may look like one of the wilder fantasy toy cars you used to play with all those years ago, but Scythe is nothing like a toy when you look at its stats. Two steering wheels, twin-supercharged 1,005 horsepower engine, composite body handmade by Galpin Auto Sports, backwards rotating door design and a 3G-connected Shuttle PC inside. This handles realtime traffic and weather monitoring, and is voice activated for some KITT-like chatting car action. There’s even a set of flush-mounted external security cameras. OK, so that does make it sound a lot like a toy, but it’s a toy for fast-driving grown-up kids. [Jalopnik] More »
Gadgets
Junk Guitar Class, for Wannabe DIY Electric Guitar Makers
10:04PM Kit Eaton | Ah the electric guitar… every time I eat at a Hard Rock Cafe, it’s these fabulous bits of rock paraphernalia that grab my attention. Fascinating: design, art, creativity in one gizmo. And yet at heart they’re very simple: a plain solid body, strings, and some pickups. So very simple in fact, that a guy called Ranjit is holding a DIY junk electric guitar class at Etsy Labs in Brooklyn tomorrow. Just don’t take along half a wrecked coffee table and expect to craft it into a guitar that’ll make you the next Clapton: these Etsy things have “wind your own”-style pickups and just a couple of strings. [Sign up page via Make] More »
Toys
