I really want the Darth Vader Desk Lamp

Actually, I wouldn’t mind a Yoda or Luke Skywalker one too, but re:creation only has Darth Vader.

Unleash the power of the dark side with the Darth Vader Desk Lamp! It features a brilliant 12 LED lightsaber lamp clasped in his hand! The spectacular Darth Vader Desk Lamp features a 19cm high minifigure, 12 LED ligh saber and optional USB power supply.

The Darth Vader desk lamp can be used for a great number of purposes, including, doing homework, drawing pictures or even to study the Death Star!!

The Darth Vader Desk Lamp is the ultimate power in the galaxy!

• 12 LED Light saber Lamp
• USB connection (optional)
• Poseable arms & legs
• Posing stand included
• Batteries x3 AA

Google’s link to LEGO goes way back…

… back all the way to the “first Google server, created by Sergey Brin and Larry Page when they were graduate students at Stanford’s School of Engineering in the 1990s“.

This server is now at the Huang Engineering Center, in the Stanford School of Engineering.  The picture below speaks for itself. 

The only quibble I have with the server is why Duplo??? 😛

You can read more about this server from Physorg.com.

UPDATE: Oh my gosh, Akunthita confirmed those are not Duplo but some clone bricks! The Google founders! Oh my, speechless…

LEGO-fy your computer

Here’s another product if you’ll like to be surrounded by studs…

Taiwan’s Coobeeo has released a LEGO-ish casing for PC called ‘HELLO-Q’.  As you can see from the pics you have some options to personalise it.

And with my limited chinese, here’s my best attempt at translating the item description from the Coobeeo site without resorting to Google Translate: 

品 名 型 號 /Product Name :	HELLO-Q		顏 色 /Colour :	黑/粉紅/粉藍/白 (Black/Pink/Baby blue/White)
尺 寸 /Dimensions :	450mm (長 /length) x 200mm (寬 /width) x 410mm (高 /height)
內 部 構 造 / Internal Config:	二 大 二 小 (two big, two small) (?what does that mean?)
電 源 供 應 器 位 置 /location of power plug/supply (?) :	後 置 (behind)
前 置 連 接 埠 /front attachments :	USB x 2	AUDIO
主 機 板 規格 :	ATX M/B或 Micro ATX M/B

 

Source: Via http://en.akihabaranews.com/86215/desktop/coobeeo-releases-lego-like-desktop-case-in-taiwan

Makedo Connectors

It was the Kong that wowed me…

And of course if you have ever wondered what you can make out of the many brown carton boxes you have accumulated from online LEGO shopping… Makedo seems to provide a playful (but really space consuming!) solution.  Want to know more? Head over to Makedo’s website.

Source: Btw, read the title to understand the link to LEGO.  🙂 http://www.core77.com/blog/object_culture/makedo_construction_toy_makes_lego_look_positively_limiting_18389.asp

Brick Products for the Hardcore…

I use the term hardcore cos I actually can’t imagine surrounding myself with bricky products all the time.  Thought of sharing these products as I saw quite a few of the Elecom gadgets while I was in Taiwan (and in Japan of course).  But think the only one I can actually imagine using is the USB hub… perhaps can make a small vignette onto it.  Actually the iPhone 4 casing isn’t too bad as well.  Could be fun to customise some LEGO mosiac/design using 1×1 studs/tiles onto the back.  What do you think?  Would you get them to use in your daily life?  Or are you already using them?

There is also a speaker attachment from Homade, but I’m not sure if it’s compatible with the latest iPhone and iPod models so I decided not to include it.  If you know otherwise let me know k?

Btw Brickify doesn’t work for me.  Anyone here tried and managed to get your images bricked out?  There are loads of other mosiac software of course, but was curious to try after reading TechCrunch’s post here.

SmallWorks BrickCase for iPhone 4

It’s available at US$19.99 from Amazon.com in black, white or clear (and eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping).  You can read more about the case in the gadgeteer’s excellent pictorial review here.

Elecom

Elecom is a Japanese brand and the products can be easily found in Japan and Taiwan.  Saw them pretty often in bookshops, music and gadget stores.  I’ve seen Elecom brick-type earphones, usb hub and calculator, not sure if there are more brick-type products.

Earphones (or brickphones?) (model: EHP-CIN40) is available in black, blue, blue-red, pink, red and white.

Calculator (LE-CA3) is available in black, blue and green.  Dimensions: 14(L): x 6.4(W) x 2.54(H)cm.

USB hub (U2H-BL4B) is available in red, yellow, blue, green, white and black, and are stackable if you ever need to save space, using the studs.  Specs below.

* Max. Transfer Speed：480Mbps(USB2.0 ) * Interface：USB2.0/1.1 * Dimension：W 64 × D 32 × H 15mm * Ports：4 port * Cable : 10cm * Weight：20g

Source: All Elecom products are available from Gadgetshunter. Earphones & USB Hub also available from Geekstuff4u.

Making Your Own LEGO Bricks

… or minifigs, or whatever your heart desires in ABS plastic.

Fantasy? No, you can actually do it if you get a Thing-O-Matic 3D Printer Kit from MakerBot. It all gets kinda techical but this article from Guardian explains it well in layman terms.  The ‘Printer’ bit is a bit deceiving… the machines are “3D printers build up objects using layers of plastic”.

Oh, and you also have to have at least US$649 (for the most basic Cupcake kit) to US$1225 (for the latest Thing-O-Matic) and wait for up to 7 weeks after placing your order.  Remember to order the ABS plastic too.  A 5 pound coil of red/blue/green/yellow//pink ABS plastic costs US$65, and a natural one at US$45.  Fluorescent red costs more at US$70 for 5 lb and glow in the dark is the most expensive at US$46 for 1 lb.

I was curious and pulled up a comparison of all 3 models… and don’t understand… uhhhh… very very engineering language.  If you are game you can read more below.

And… this really reminds me of some in-game “The Sims” kind of gadget.  Even the name sounds like one. Come to think of it, I’m sure there was some machine/reward like that in “The Sims 3“…

Someone has already made some large minifigs (20 minifigs size x 4) and shared his blue prints. Looks good don’t you think?  By Michael Curry, aka Skimbal, more pics in his Picasa page.  Blue prints for the minifigs here in his thingiverse page.  

You can also see a video of an actual to-scale 2×2 brick:

Loads more videos about ‘makerbot’ in youtube.

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As the last post for 2010, happy new year to all readers!  Wishing all a healthy, peaceful and wonderful year ahead. 🙂

LEGO Antikythera Mechanism

LEGO what?   The Antikythera Mechanism: http://bit.ly/fm4oFK is the oldest known scientific computer: an ancient Greek astronomical clock for determining the positions of celestial bodies and eclipses built around 100 BC. 

This ancient device was recreated in LEGO form by Andy Carol, a software engineer at Apple, who makes working lego models of mechanical computers, such as the Babbage Difference Engine. 

Adam Rutherford, Nature’s chief audio and video editor, persuaded Carol to build the device, which was filmed in stop-motion over 40 days by writer and filmmaker John Pavlus (whose blog explains more about the process). (The video can also be seen at Nature‘s video channel).

Here’s the machine:

And here’s the 40 days of stop-motion filming condensed into less than 2 minutes:

Ok, I’ve to admit it’s all… quite greek to me.  Umm… but it’s a great video, got nice music, looks like an interesting gadget, and made of LEGO, so what’s there not to like about it? 😛