Sit back, watch the video, and prepare to be AMAZED.

I don’t even have to say anything, it is what it says. Yeah but you know me, I’ll say something anyway (my blog, mine!). This is a Pekee Robot modified by a bunch of engineering students to be controlled purely using NDS technology. Six ways to control it:

The D-pad, touchscreen, motion sensors, stylus strokes, a target mode modeled after Super Mario 64 DS, and voice commands via the mic.

Whew.

The pros: You + your DS + this amazing idea = world domination. That and enough bragging rights to erase all your sad childhood memories. Spycam? Maybe.

The cons: It’s homebrew, you can’t have it.

Technorati tags: ds, nintendo, homebrew, remote, robot, controller, nds

What could be better than music and candy coming together to form one glorious gadget and symbolize youth, peace and happiness?

Well, a lot of things (and I do acknowledge that the latter half of that sentence was weird), but this still ranks high up there on my list. It’s true, this sequencer uses bubblegum as its markers. Here’s how it works:

A grid of holes, consisting of several rows with 16 holes each is the canvas. On it, you arrange colored gumballs. The 16 columns represent the 16th-notes in a measure. Each color is mapped to a specific sample.

The Bubblegum Sequencer senses the position of the balls through a video camera mounted underneath the surface. The captured image is processed by a computer vision routine that computes the average color in each hole. The colors are quantized and mapped to notes. For each note, a MIDI event is generated and sent to the operating system’s MIDI bus.

Well that’s probably a bunch of jibberish to many, so basically it’s a gadget that uses the gumball colors to determine which “sound” to play. Okay because I’m lazy to explain more, I’ll just show you the video.

The pros: It’s fun! Come on, bubblegum and music, how can you go wrong? After playing, you and some friends can pop those candies into your mouths, completing the gumball experience.

The cons: The gumballs are food, so you’ll have to replace them every once in a while, that is if you don’t want them to go to waste. They could’ve used marbles… but then again. Bubblegum. Fun.

Technorati tags: bubblegum, sequencer, music, gum, beat, tempo, melody, cute gadget, food, candy, midi

Who can resist the countless hours of fun watching a ball of fuzz tire itself in an endless and futile endeavor like this? Go ahead, keep watching it. You know you want to.

This USB wheel runs on 2 AA batteries and spins as fast as you type, so if you feel like giving your hamster a little exercise, you can do your regular typing. But if you’re one of those 120wpm typists who for some reason still manage to type out dictionary-accepted words, then maybe you can add in some blades and make yourself an electric fan.

It costs about 53 USD. It lives forever.

The pros: It’s not a real hamster. Therefore, no cleaning after it, no feeding, no getting bitten when it doesn’t want to be in your sweaty palms.

The cons: It will not replace Hammie, let it go.

Technorati tags: hamster wheel, fun gadget, usb

Forget about the mini, nano stuff. Why are people so obsessed with tiny stuff? I say, the bigger the better.

If you understood anything from that video (you’d think since he had time to make that thing, he’d have time to switch on a light somewhere), this giant controller actually has a working NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) inside it, and the whole thing can be plugged into a normal TV.

So basically you can play with the NES inside using this giant controller, the same way you’d play with a normal-sized one. Well…not exactly.

The pros: It may very well redefine the term “multiplayer”, since you’d probably need two people to get through Adventure Island. Added fun in my book. Not to mention, you’ll need some hardcore teamwork — imagine playing Bomberman with this.

The cons: You don’t have one, hah! Well…neither do I. Boo.

Technorati tags: nes, nintendo entertainment system, controller, giant

After an absence that I shall not explain (but don’t worry it doesn’t involve aliens and probes), let’s get back to business. Since I owe you more than one gadget, I shall in fact, bring you more than one gadget.

1,768 gadgets, to be exact.

Now what could be so special about this messy picture? Well it’s not a new all-in-one game console, if that’s what you’re thinking. This here is the 99% complete set of gaming consoles, collected by a random lamer — I mean gamer — and if you must have the list, here it is:

Atari 2600, Atari 7800, Atari Jaguar, Atari Lynx, Coleco ColecoVision, Coleco Gemini, Coleco Telstar, Commodore 64/128, GCE Vectrex, Mattel Aquarius, Mattel Intellivision, Mattel Odyssey 2, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Miscellaneous APF TV Fun, Miscellaneous Handheld Games, Miscellaneous PC Games, Miscellaneous SC Eight Thousand, Miscellaneous Sega Pods, Miscellaneous TV Games, NEC Turbo Duo, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Game Boy Advance, Nintendo GameCube, Nintendo NES, Nintendo Nintendo 64, Nintendo Super NES, Nintendo Virtual Boy, Nintendo Wii, Sega Dreamcast, Sega Game Gear, Sega Genesis, Sega Master System, Sega Saturn, SNK Neo Geo, SNK Neo Geo Pocket, Sony Playstation, Sony Playstation 2, Texas Instruments TI 99/4A, VM Labs Nuon.

And this 30-year gaming history collection is on eBay. Yes, eBay. The estimated price for all of this is US$14,639, but as I type this, the current bid is at US$7,320. How high do you think it’ll get?

If you wanna see the details per console and stuff, click here. So basically, that’s [insert number, I’m lazy too count] consoles and tons of games, apparently including an extremely rare NiGHTS Christmas version!

Okay actually I have no idea what NiGHTS is. I think I need to brush-up on my Geek.

The pros: If you buy this, you will have the chance to be the ultimate gamer. You will have friends coming over from Hawaii. You will have people you don’t know claiming to be your friends from Hawaii. You will have mad videogame parties, and you will never have to be alone.

The cons: They’ll be taking CDs, cartridges, and controllers one by one. And you won’t even notice. 1,767… 1,766… 1,765…

…oh and no, no PS3.

Technorati tags: game, console, auction, atari, nintendo, xbox, sega, sony, texas instruments, mattel, nights, nec

At last something that makes sense! Well, more sense than the last few gadgets on this blog.

Kam Kam is actually the cat’s name. What it does is it detects incoming and outgoing calls (kinda like how your monitor flickers, only in a less annoying way), and when it does, tails will wag for up to 15 seconds.

It costs US$29.99 and runs on 2 AA batteries. It’s about 10″ long.

I keep reading that as “Wail tagged upon called received.”

The pros: It’s cute. Also, you’ll know when you have incoming calls about 2 full seconds before they come, and if your Kam Kam’s tail is within a decent visual range (a foot away from your face and directly infront of you). What would we do without it! …but seriously, you should just get this cause it’s cute.

The cons: Well, I guess there are some. But the cuteness smothers them all up that I won’t even go there. Oh but apparently the dog, Don, isn’t available. Boo.

Technorati tags: kam kam, cellphone, call alert, mobile

Believe it or not, I have a stash of bubble wrap in my drawer at work. Every so often, I’d take it out and start popping, drive my co-workers nuts Apparently it’s only stress relief for the one who’s actually popping, and I know they just can’t wait for me to run out, but now I’ve found the ultimate solution.

Infinite bubble wrap. It’s actually a gadget that simulates the feel and sound of actual bubble wrap, and as long as it’s got juice, you’ll have countless hours of fun.

By the way, it’s called PuchiPuchi, costs about US$7, and was made by Bandai. Yes the same company that gave you those Gundams. Giant humanoid robots, bubble wrap toy. See the connection? They say “puchi puchi” is the sound it makes when you pop it. And their slogan is “Anytime, anywhere, forever…you can puchi puchi.”

Hmmm.

The pros: It’s bubble wrap. Need I say more?

The cons: Every 100 pops, a random sound will come out. Barking dog, sexy voice, door chime or a fart. So unless you want an unfortunate “accident” involving your officemate’s stapler and your hand, you basically have that 100 pop limit. If that doesn’t drive them crazy already.

Hey Lani, what’s up? Oh new stapler.. hey wait. WAIT.

Technorati tags: bubble wrap, bandai, puchipuchi, infinite, annoying, stress relief, addictive

Okay so I couldn’t think of a better name. It stays. Um, yeah. Hi.

Well, people pay too much attention to stuff like the iPod and the iPhone and the Macbook (What? No Microsoft? He he he), I thought it’s about time that we show some love to the really AWESOME gadgets.

Yeah, you know the ones.

The ones Steve Jobs doesn’t want you to know about. Gadgets so powerful and life-altering that I just have to help spread the word. Gadgets such as this…

USB Whack-a-mole!

Okay so they don’t really look like moles. Nor do you really whack them. Plug it in, watch the beany things light up and PRESS. Press like you’ve never pressed before! It’s like a poking excercise, goes for 30 seconds to a minute per run, and the doohickey costs about $31.

The pros: It’s so engaging that you won’t notice the work hours go by!

The cons: It’s so engaging that you won’t notice you’re hours behind a deadline!

Technorati tags: usb, gadget, short circuit, whack, whack-a-mole, mole, distraction