USB pet rock
Wish I’d thought of this gag first. The USB pet rock from ThinkGeek has all the functionality of the original pet rock, but is USB compatible.
Made On Earth
Jonathan Wolfe’s puzzle acorns
My buddy Jon makes these awesome little puzzle boxes from acorns. There are four shown in the video: one pair consisting of a smaller hinged acorn that nests, matryoshka-style, inside a larger one with a wire spring latch; a larger, locking nut that is opened by removing a small pin; and, finally, a large hinged version that is unlatched by knocking it against a surface from a certain angle.
Stained glass d20s
From Flickr user Bloodthirsty Vegetarians, who also produce an eponymous podcast. [via Neatorama]
Tiny solar-powered brass engine in a wineglass
This is the work of Szymon Klimek, whose work has been honored by the Internet Craftsmanship Museum. [via The Automata / Automaton Blog]
Cross multi-tool
Dutch designer Michiel Cornelissen sells these cruciform screwdrivers, which are laser-sintered stainless steel. There’s a flat-blade, a Phillips head, and an IKEA-sized hex bit. [via Dude Craft]
Sundial cannon fires at noon
The glass is aligned to concentrate the sun’s rays, lighting the cannon’s fuse at high noon. More pics here, and a very detailed .pdf from the British Sundial Society on so-called “noon cannons” here. [via Neatorama]
Electroluminescent liquor labels
Among the hairier of my hare-brained schemes involves formulating a safe-to-drink chemiluminescent cocktail. I think the first person to do it will become a very wealthy laughingstock, which, as I understand it, is the very definition of The American Dream.
So I got really excited when I first saw this post over on TheDieline.com, because I thought somebody had pulled it off. Unfortunately, it’s just the labels that are glowing, not the booze itself, but still it’s pretty cool. If you ignore the crass commercialism, the shameless marketing, the horrors of alcoholism, drunk driving, etc., etc. [via Geekologie]
