Elizabeth Fish is a freelance writer who happens to run a hyperlocal news website in Lincoln, UK. She also covers all things geeky for TechHive. More by Elizabeth Fish
Jc8Ic/Imgur
With Memorial Day and the traditional start of summer just around the corner, you’re probably daydreaming about that giant rack of meat you’re going to throw on your trusty grill this weekend (don’t forget the vegetarian options, too!). But before you dust off that barbecue, consider using one of those old computer towers for your cookout.
No, really! Imgur user Jc8Ic gutted an old Power Mac G5 and transformed it into a backyard barbecue grill. He started by turning a G5 tower on its side and removing the side panel. After removing the machine's innards, the intrepid replaced the Power Mac's side panel with an aluminum grate, and attached and a wooden base beneath the case in order to keep it off the table.
Albert is a former PCWorld intern and GeekTech writer, who now works as a Macworld intern. Albert likes to help out in the lab, and in his free time likes to dabble in web development. Check him out on Dribbble, or see some of his work on CodePen. More by Albert Filice
MakieMakies figurines are fully posable and customizable, clothing too.
Making custom designs with 3D printing is nothing new—in fact, it's right with the spirit of the technology. However we aren't all superb designers, and it can be challenging—or even impossible—to design something that you're happy with. So if you've been thinking about 3D printing a custom action figure, you might want to check out Makie, by MakieLab first.
MakieLab is a London-based toys and games company that's dedicated to creating "future-smashing" toys. What exactly that is, I'm not sure. The company's creations feature a rare level of customizability and detail in both the models and their clothing, not to mention realistic glossy eyes, a design choice some might deem creepy, but that I prefer to think of as awesome.
Elizabeth Fish is a freelance writer who happens to run a hyperlocal news website in Lincoln, UK. She also covers all things geeky for TechHive. More by Elizabeth Fish
When it comes to feelings and facial expressions, many of us can associate a certain color with the mood. For instance, we typically associate blue with sadness(as in, "feeling blue"), red with anger, and green with jealousy. What if you could use these color associations to tell others to leave you alone?
Vittorio Cuclo built a Mood Lamp that does just that out of an RGB Ikea lamp and an Arduino Duemilanove microcontroller. Vittorio’s project works by mapping your facial expressions to a number of markers via a webcam, matches it to a color, and then displays it on the lamp. Essentially, you’re communicating your emotional state to the room through the lamp.
Cassandra Khaw is an entry-level audiophile, a street dancer, a person who writes about video games for a living, and someone who spends too much time on Twitter. More by Cassandra Khaw
BrickPi/Kickstarter
Kickstarter campaigns are a dime a dozen these days (which is why you should read our Crowdfunding Spotlight column so you can make sense of them all). But few of them feature such a beautiful marriage between two of geek culture's favorite things: Lego and the Raspberry Pi.
The BrickPi system consists of two parts. First is the BrickPi board itself, which connects, controls, and powers your Raspberry Pi and Lego Mindstorms paraphernalia.The other half of the BrickPi is, of course, the casing. After all, you can't have a robot without something to secure the disparate bits to, right?
Kevin is a small-time tech hound, amateur photographer, and a general know-at-least-something of all things geeky hailing from New York. More by Kevin Lee
Duke UniversityYaroslav Urzhumov holds the 3D-printed invisibility cloak.
Unlike previous attempts at creating invisibility cloaks, Duke University researchers decided to skimp on the expensive metamaterials and opted to create a completely polymer-based invisibility cloak using the stereolithographic fabrication process of a 3D printer. The resulting cloak—which can render you invisible to microwave scanning (though not visible light)—looks more like a Frisbee made of swiss cheese, but the researchers assure us that it really works.
Jc8Ic/Imgur
BrickPi/Kickstarter
Duke University