By Andrew Liszewski

If you’re a fan of classic gaming, particularly from Nintendo, you’re either going to love or cringe at the site of these cartridges that have been converted into hard drives and USB flash drives. They were created by Etsy seller 8-Bit Memory, and the prices seem to range from about $39.99 for a GBA cart 4GB flash drive, to upwards of $179.99 for a 1TB NES cart external drive. Custom orders are also welcome, if your cart of choice hasn’t already been converted.

[ Etsy - 8-Bit Memory - NES, SNES & GBA Cart Hard Drives & Flash Drives ] VIA [ Newlaunches ]

By Andrew Liszewski

Here’s the dilemma. You’re so concerned about your looks and your image that you need to check yourself out every 5 minutes when out in public, but you can’t be seen carrying a giant mirror around since people will think you’re incredibly vain. The solution? This Pocket Mirror, created by Pavel Sidorenko, that’s small enough to stash in a credit card slot in your wallet. And since it’s made from plastic, it’s not going to shatter the first time you sit down and put a little pressure on it. It’s also ideal if you find yourself marooned on a very tiny island and need to signal a very tiny rescue plane. Available here for about $5. (4 Euros)

[ Pocket Mirror ] VIA [ Better Living Through Design ]

By Chris Scott Barr

You really have to hand it to the guys at ThinkGeek, they know how to do April Fool’s jokes. Google always puts on a good show as well, but there’s one very important difference between the two: ThinkGeek actually brings some of their gag products to life. My favorite of these is the Tauntaun Sleeping bag. While to most, the thought of curling up inside the carcass of an alien creature might be unappetizing, many geeks thought differently. So many, in fact, that this farce ended up becoming a reality.

Much to the excitement of Star Wars fans everywhere, the company got the go-ahead from Lucasfilm to produce the sleeping bag. For a cool hundred bucks, this functional piece of geeky culture could be yours. But the real question here is whether or not it was going to be quality. I mean, you don’t want to order something expecting the awesomeness of Yoda, only to find a Jar-Jar sitting in the box. Well that’s where I come in. I currently have one of these in my possession, and I’ve slept on it. Hit the jump and I’ll give you the full scoop.

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By Andrew Liszewski

There’s not nearly enough storage space to make this bike useful for an extended road trip, but commuters who are tired of getting to work with a sweaty back thanks to a backpack, or are simply embarrassed about having a basket on their handlebars, should appreciate its design. Integrated into the frame of the bike is a storage compartment that’s perfectly sized for a briefcase, messenger bag or even a laptop bag since it provides considerable more protection than a pannier hanging off the side. And because the compartment is centered in the middle of the bike it also doesn’t hinder your balance when riding, even when fully loaded. It’s available from TATO directly for just over $1,500. (CHF 1,599)

[ TATO Commuter Bike ] VIA [ Cool Material ]

By Evan Ackerman

I’ve had my Pogoplug for a several months now, and I’m still a big fan… Enough of a fan to have gone and bought a couple for my job (what, you think I blog for a living? HA!). Now I’m kicking myself, though, because Pogoplug is introducing the Pogoplug Biz, which not only includes a whole bunch of useful business-y features, but also comes in a color that isn’t purplish-pink.

Chiefly, the Pogoplug Biz is a way of making stuff on your computers (say, projects) available to other people (say, clients) in a way that’s easy for you to manage and easy for them to access. The Biz differs from the regular Pogoplug (which also has this capability) by letting you control the entire process, customizing the Pogoplug interface to integrate directly with your business and avoiding the inevitable question from your clients of “what the heck is a Pogoplug and why do I have to get my files from it?”

There’s a whole host of other cool stuff that you can do with the Pogoplug Biz, and we’ve got the entire rundown, after the jump. Read the rest of this entry »

By Andrew Liszewski

To commemorate the 10+ years of the Rockstar Games label, which was founded in 1998, the company has worked with German publisher Stiedl to create this 3 volume, 544 page hardcover tome that features everything from original illustrations to wireframe models to advertising to even what inspired the people and places seen in many of their games. It also includes a DVD with behind the scenes exclusive content, and quite honestly, looks like a fascinating read. However, the publisher has set an RRP of £310 which translates to over $470! That’s almost half a grand! Thankfully Amazon.co.uk has it currently listed for £75.65 (available sometime next month) which works out to a slightly more reasonable $115.

[ Amazon UK - Digital + Analogue: The Art and Science of Rockstar Games ] VIA [ Develop ]

By Andrew Liszewski

It looks like there’s a new version of the Banclock we brought you a couple of years ago. Like the previous model, the new Banclock’s (a shortened version of bank + clock) snooze mode can only be activated by inserting a coin, so when you run out of loose change, you’re going to have to drag yourself out of bed. The new design features a retro yet modern take on the classic alarm clock, with a golden dollar on top that moves back and forth ringing the bells. It’s available from the Japan Trend Shop in black, white or pink for $55.

[ Banclock ]

By Chris Scott Barr

The Kindle has been on sale for a little less than three years, but it has already begun to revolutionize the way we read books. That’s not to say it’s the only player on the market, but its appetizing price and feature list helped jump-start the e-reader craze. But just how popular are ebooks? Apparently they’re more popular than hardbacks, according to Amazon.

In the last three months, Amazon has sold 143 Kindle books for every 100 hardcover books sold. They were not including free ebooks in the figures, or else they would be considerably higher. What’s even more interesting is that there are now five authors who have sold over 500,000 ebooks through Amazon’s Kindle bookstore.

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By Andrew Liszewski

If you can unscrew a face plate, then you can install this timer which simply screws into the bottom hole of your standard wall-mounted light switch. As you can see in the product shot it sits over the actual switch and will physically flick it on or off at preset times and intervals, perfect for conserving electricity or making it appear as if someone is home while you’re not. And while no wiring or electrical skills are needed, a basic grasp of alarm clock programming is required to setup when the device does its thing. There’s also a manual override that lets you turn the switch on or off regardless of the time, and since it doesn’t tap into your home’s electrical wiring in any way, you’ll also need to occasionally swap out a set of AA batteries to keep it running. $39.95 from Hammacher Schlemmer.

[ Light Switch Timer ] VIA [ Apartment Therapy Unplggd ]