Let These Dragons Hold Your Dice for You

Dragons are awesome. And there are no better creatures to protect your dice between use. Dragons instinctively guard dice as if they were 20-sided eggs. It’s just the way they are. DeviantArtist DragonsAndBeasties knows this and so has created the cutest way to keep your dice organized.

She created these detailed little dragons in all kinds of colors and styles to hold your dice. She also has several other dragons, ponies and creatures in her collection. This should help her spice up her next Dungeons and Dragons session.

Plus, they can double as miniatures depending on the game that you are playing. These dragons are all win.

[via Nerd Approved]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/30/let-these-dragons-hold-your-dice-for-you/

Tech Deals of the Day: Monday, 9/30/2013

Our friends at TechBargains.com compile a list of daily deals to help you save money. Keep in mind that as with any good deal, products are limited in quantity and can sell out quickly – so don’t hesitate to check them out now.

If you’re looking to buy a product from a specific store, save money with updated and verified coupon codes here.

Computers & Peripherals:

• Corsair Carbide Series 200R ATX Mid Tower Case $29.99 plus free shipping (normally $69 – use this form)

• Microsoft 6PL-00003 Sculpt Touch Wireless Bluetooth Mouse $19.99 plus free store pickup (normally $49)

• Incase Hard-Shell Case for MacBook Pro 13″, 15″, or 15″ with Retina Display $15.99 plus free shipping (normally $59)

• Samsung P3 Portable 1TB USB 3.0 2.5″ External Portable Hard Drive $49.99 plus free shipping (normally $99 – use code: SPECIALDEAL)

• Samsung 32GB Micro SDHC Memory Card (Class 6) $19.99 plus free shipping (normally $49)

• HP LV2311 23″ LED LCD Monitor $99.99 plus free shipping (normally $149)

Home Entertainment:

• Pre-Orders on the Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary (Blu-Ray) $11.96 plus $1.97 shipping (normally $29)

• Refurbished Ooma TELO VOIP Internet Home Phone w/ 2-Year Warranty $89.00 plus free shipping (normally $139)

Personal Electronics:
• Refurbished Retina Display Apple iPod Touch ME643LL/A 16GB Media Player (5th Generation) $149.00 plus free shipping (normally $249)

• Samsung Google Nexus 10 16GB 10in Tablet w/ Android 4.2 Jellybean $319.99 plus free shipping (normally $449)

• Refurbished Amazon Kindle Fire HD 16GB WiFi 7″ Tablet $99.99 plus free shipping (normally $179)

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/30/tech-deals-of-the-day-monday/

Iron Man Suit Hoodie has War Machine’s Color and a T-shirt’s Material

We’ve already seen official Iron Man hoodies, but if you want something more unique – to the extent that copies can be described as unique – check out this cotton hoodie made by Catherine Kim aka Iamknight. It’s not in Shellhead’s trademark colors, but I think that’s a good thing. It’s a lot easier to find clothes and shoes that match a black hoodie than a red and gold one.

As with Kim’s other armor-themed hoodies, the mask of this hoodie is detachable. Kim said that the hoodie is a mix of different versions of the Iron Man armor. She said that she copied the abdomen and elbows of the Mk. VIII armor and combined that with the chest and shoulders of the Mk. VII armor.

You can order the Iron Man suit hoodie from Kim’s Etsy shop for $450 (USD). That’s Tony Stark pricing right there.

[via DudeIWantThat]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/30/iron-man-suit-hoodie/

Breaking Bald: Hyper-Realistic Walter White Mask

Looking for a one of a kind Breaking Bad collectible? How about this incredibly realistic Walter White mask that was once worn by Bryan Cranston? This mask first showed up when Bryan Cranston wore it at the 2013 Comic-Con and walked among the unsuspecting crowd. He then revealed the disguise on stage at the Breaking Bad panel.

Then later it showed up on all of the talk shows, even Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where Fallon wore the mask and interviewed Bryan Cranston as Walter White. At one point musician/actor Common put on the mask too. The mask was signed by Cranston and returned to the artist after that. Now you can own one and do whatever you want with it.

It’s great for Halloween, making your own fan movies, scaring people, or just staring in the mirror telling yourself that you are the one who knocks. The eBay auction ends tonight and right now it is at a whopping$41,100.00(USD).

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/30/breaking-bald-hyper-realistic-walter-white-mask/

3D Printing Fine Art: Downloadable Masterpiece

In the future, we may not need to go to museums and other repositories of art in order to admire paintings and sculptures. We may be able to print inch-perfect replicas of artworks that, to the untrained eyes, look exactly the same as the original. Engineer Tim Zaman showed that it’s possible to make high quality and full color scans of paintings using off the shelf devices. But for now, it takes a rare and proprietary 3D printer to turn those scans into accurate replicas.

For his master thesis at the Delft University of Technology, Tim built a custom 3D scanner composed of two Nikon D800E cameras with 80mm PC-E lenses and a polarization filter and a picoprojector that also has a polarization filter. Tim said his rig enabled him to combine two 3D scanning techniques – stereoscopic scanning and fringe projection – allowing for scans with a resolution of 50 micrometers (μm) and a depth precision of 9.2 μm. Skip to around 1:52 in the video below to see Tim talk to the BBC about his project:

In his reply to a commenter on YouTube, Tim said that it takes him one day to scan a 1 sq.m. (approx. 11 sq.ft.) surface. Printing the resulting file can take up to a day as well. Not that you’d be able to do so with just any 3D printer. The miraculous machine in the video below and the 3D printing process it uses were developed by Océ, a printing company owned by Canon. The painting that was replicated here is Rembrandt’s The Jewish Bride .

That is one of the most amazing things I’ve seen in my life. No doubt visual artists and art critics will have to come to terms with the off-putting consequences of this technology. What is the value of a painting if it can have infinite perfect replicas? Should one’s appreciation of a painting or sculpture be informed by the knowledge of its authenticity if you can’t tell the difference between an original work and its replica? But as Tim stated in his thesis, the fruits of his labor can also be applied to study, conserve and restore works of art. Head to Tim’s website or YouTube channel if you want to find out more about his research.

[via Tim Zaman, Delft University of Technology & Océ via Walyou]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/30/3d-printing-fine-art/

BBZ150 Bluetooth Robot: Foosball 2.0

One of those games I always saw in the arcade quite, but never quite understood was foosball. I get that it’s sort of like playing soccer on a table, but I always thought it was boring after just a few minutes of play. I might be able to get behind playing some 21st century foosball using these soccer playing robots from BeeWi.

The robot is called the BBZ150 and it uses Bluetooth connectivity and a smartphone application for control. Each of the little robots comes with numbers for its shirt, a little soccer ball, and a little soccer goal. The control app is available for Android, iOS devices, and Windows Phone.

If you’re not into soccer, you can just cruise the robot around like any remote control toy and you can play sumo wrestling with it using a downloadable sumo ring you can print at home.

The BBZ150 robot will ship in October for £29.99 (~$48 USD) each.

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/30/bbz150-bluetooth-soccer-robot/

Google Street View Lets You Visit CERN without Colliding with Anyone

The European Organization for Nuclear Research aka CERN reached the attention of the masses when they finished the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), the world’s largest and most powerful particle accelerator. Physicists and other scientists all over the world have high hopes for the LHC, while the rest of us are thoroughly impressed with its name. Now you can be even more vaguely impressed with cutting edge technology, thanks to Google’s Street View tour of the CERN site.

The tour is the final product of a two-week shoot by Google’s crew back in 2011. They took images of 5 different areas of CERN’s facilities, including nearly 4,000ft of the LHC tunnel. Check all of them out on Google Maps. Be sure to nod approvingly as you gaze at the images. Doing that helped me resist passing out from sheer confusion.

[via NOTCOT & Google]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/29/google-street-view-cern/

Zombie Garden Gnomes Aren’t as Creepy as Normal Garden Gnomes

I’ve never been a fan of garden gnomes, honestly they are little disconcerting. I always had the sense that they’re watching me and is waiting for nightfall when they’ll creep into the house and stuff Tic-Tacs up my nose until I suffocate. For some reason I don’t find these zombie garden gnomes nearly as creepy as the regular ones – go figure.

These would be perfect decorating your garden for Halloween. ThinkGeek has four different zombie garden gnome styles including the survivor, zombie, rising, and evil versions. Each individual zombie garden gnome is between nine and 11.4-inches tall and made from resin.

The only exception is the zombie version (the one with the blue outfit), which is actually made from terracotta.

I particularly like the survivor gnome because he has a machine gun and it says “Say hello to my little friend” underneath. The gnomes sell for $19.99(USD) each, or you can get the survivor and zombie version in a bundle for $29.99. We’ve seen some other zombie gnomes in the past, but ThinkGeek has machine guns (plus they’re cheaper.)

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/29/zombie-garden-gnomes/

Breaking Bad NES Cartridge: Console Gray

After five amazing seasons, Vince Gilligan’s Breaking Bad is finally coming to an end. Other than the occasional conversation between Badger and Skinny Pete show doesn’t have a lot to do with videogames, but excellence radiates beyond boundaries. 72Pins worked with pixel artist Drew Wise to make an homage to the TV show in the only way it knows how: with art on a random NES cartridge.

As with other 72Pins carts, Bad Breaker is a playable NES cartridge. Sadly, whatever game you get, you can be sure that it’s not got nothing to with Breaking Bad. The least they could do is install this.

Tread lightly and order Bad Breaker from 72Pins for $15 (USD). Yo.

[via InsanelyGaming]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/29/breaking-bad-nes-cartridge/

Ducati 899 Panigale Motorcycle: In the Sock-Blowing-Away Business

There’s something awesome about a crotch rocket that will beat most supercars. Ducatis are no exception, and the new 899 will not only blow your socks off, but other parts of your clothing as well.

The Ducati 899 Panigale motorcycle was made as a replacement for the 848 Superbike, and it’s supposed to be comfortable both on the track and the road. The engine produces 148 hp at 9,000 RPM. It’s loaded with high tech electronics, like a quick shifter, ride-by-wire, triple stage ABS, traction control, engine brake control and more. The monocoque aluminum frame should also be nice to ride.

The Ducati 899 Panigale will be available in October starting at about $15,000(USD).

[via Uncrate]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/29/ducati-899-panigale-motorcycle/

Star Wars Death Star Trench Run on the Oculus Rift: Use the Headset Luke

We’ve seen the memorable ending scene of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope recreated with LEGO and in Minecraft , but YouTuber Boone Calhoun is working on a way to not just recreate but to experience the scene through Luke’s point of view as well: a 3D videogame version that’s meant to be played using the Oculus Rift.

Boone hasn’t released the game yet, but if you have the Oculus Rift you can check out how it will look in the video below:

I wonder if Desert Bus will be more fun or more excruciating with the Oculus Rift.

[via I Heart Chaos]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/29/star-wars-death-star-trench-run-oculus-rift/

Star Wars Battling Fighters Slot Car Set Lets You Relive the Death Star Trench Scene

At last, a toy that lets a TIE Fighter chase an X-Wing, just like during the big Death Star battle scene in A New Hope! A Trench run that is never-ending, thanks to its figure-eight slot car track. The Star Wars Battling Fighters Set is a slot car set where the “cars” are space ships that we all know and love.

One player pilots Luke Skywalker’s “Red Five” X-Wing, while Vader’s TIE fighter gives chase. Apparently this set takes some skill to play with because the ships are slightly wider than the track. Therefore it should be challenging for either player.

The ships have LEDs that light up when racing too. And like any good kids toy, the 12-foot figure-eight track has glow-in the-dark striping for nighttime play. It will cost you $99.95 over at Hammacher Schlemmer. Completely worth it as far as I’m concerned.

[via Geek Alerts]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/28/star-wars-fighters-slot-car-set/

iFruit Vinyl Skin Turns iPhone 5 into GTA 5 Phone

A couple of days ago we saw MobileFun’s sticker kit that makes an iPhone 5 look like an iPhone 5S, sorta. It turns out they have a sillier stick-on conversion kit for the iPhone 5. The iFruit vinyl skin is based on Rockstar Games’ eponymous companion app for Grand Theft Auto V. I bet they find this sticker hilarious.

Because the phones are about the same size, the vinyl should fit the iPhone 5s as well. You can order the iFruit skin from MobileFun for $13 (USD). Man, mocking oneself is expensive. To complete the transformation, change your phone’s wallpaper to one of the iFruit app’s backgrounds. Se7ensins forum member Tag 7s extracted the images from the app itself.

[via Inventor Spot]

via Technabob http://technabob.com/blog/2013/09/28/ifruit_gta_5_iphone_skin/