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Doctor Who Talking Plush Backpack Charms
Going back to school after the year end holidays can be quite a drag, but if you have a Little Doctor in your house who loves all things Dr. Who, then you will be able to add a little bit of incentive to return to the bullying grounds during recess – with the 4″ Doctor Who Talking Plush Backpack Charms that will retail for $9.99 a pop. Whenever you give these little critters a tight squeeze, they will ensure there is a reaction in the form of Dr. Who sound effects. You can choose from Dalek, Cyberman, and TARDIS designs.
Perfect for hanging from your backpack, laptop bag, or purse, each charm will have its individual sound effects. For instance, the red or blue Dalek will say, “Exterminate! Exterminate!” and “You would make a good Daaaaalek!”, while Cyberman chirps out, “Upgrading is compulsory” and “You will become like us or you will be deleted.”, with TARDIS being the favorite of many, saying stuff like “Vworp! Vworp! Vworp!” while lighting up. Guaranteed to be hilarious each time, and it certainly takes away the boredom from the class.
Portals: Like I really wouldn’t report on this
What you are seeing here is not a deleted scene from Poltergeist where the TV sucks someone else in, starting with their hand.
This is a Kickstarter project called Portals, and it has nothing to do with the popular video game franchise Portal. What you see here is exactly what you think it is: someone has made a display that you can literally reach into.
It works with a simple greenscreen and webcam. When you stick your hand in the box, the webcam records your hand against the green screen and on the display you are looking at. In the case of the illustration, the user has chosen Google Streetview.
Continue reading » Portals: Like I really wouldn’t report on this
DIY Magnetic Levitating Sculpture Kit
Have you watched David Copperfield in action back when he was the magic superstar of the world? Well, he certainly did mesmerize plenty of folks with his collection and repertoire of tricks in his bag, including making the Great Wall of China disappear, but surely some of the seemingly more basic tricks have caught your attention too, no? For example, the trick of levitating an object or a person is still something that I have quite yet to figure out, but perhaps with the $49.99 DIY Magnetic Levitating Sculpture Kit, things might change for the better. This is an easy to assemble kit, allowing you to suspend a magnet in mid-air.
Gravity vs electromagnetism – a battle that can be won by either, depending on the delicate balance and placement of objects. This unique DIY kit will boast an extremely powerful magnet at the top of the sculpture that will pull the magnet cube up, and when the forces of gravity and electromagnetism are balanced, the magnet cube will remain in mid-air, spinning around to keep you and anyone else who looks at it mesmerized.
Portal 2 PotatOS Science Kit
What are some of the memories that you carry around from playing Portal 2? For some of us, it would be toting the PotatOS around the test facility, where you felt this unnatural bond as though you were kindred spirits, never mind that this is not the case. Well, for folks who skipped the children’s Science Fair at Aperture Labs, here is something that might just redeem your absence – the $29.99 Portal 2 PotatOS Science Kit. Yes sir, just about everything that is required by you is packed into a handy Portal 2 PotatOS Science Kit, where it even sports a miniature science fair poster complete with brand new content from Valve’s writing team!
The only thing that you will need to come up with would be your very own potato, but that should not be too hard to get, right? If you’re great at following instructions, it will take mere minutes to transform your potato into your very own PotatOS, where it will light up and send verbal repartees your way, just like in the game. Nice to know that the CR2030 batteries required to run this thing is included. Just a note of caution – skip on eating the potato after using it for PotatOS.
c-Jump Computer Programming Board Game
Some parents wish that they could live out their dreams through their kids, for instance, a pilot might want his son to enrol in the same school that he did when he was a wee lad, charting the son’s life path before he even knows what a Pokemon is. I say let your kids discover for themselves what their lot in life is, you cannot simply force someone to live out your life as it would make the entire growing up process a painful and difficult one. If you want to know whether your little one could be the next John Carmack, then playing Doom is not the answer, but rather, purchasing the $24.99 c-Jump Computer Programming Board Game.
This unique board game will let you learn the basics of computer programming, where the main objective is to race down the mountain – by thinking like a computer programmer. Pretty cool, don’t you think so? How about programming a portal to open up on one end with another at the destination to take a short cut? This unique board game targets middle school aged geeklings as well as the older ones who are new to the world of programming, where it teaches basic programming language commands such as “if”, “else”, and “switch”, while introducing the variable “x” concept. Have fun while learning, that is what life is all about.
Lightnight Reaction for some shocking gaming sessions
If you want to develop lightning quick reflexes, training with an enraged snake (the more poisonous the better, since it will up the ante) will definitely do that, but for a far less risky venture, you might want to check out the $29.99 Lightnight Reaction. This particular shocking party game will see the losers get a nice zap to their hands, definitely not a feeling that any of us would like. I guess it is also a deterrent for those who have hatched plans to perform some nefarious deeds down the road which might result in the electric chair, no?
Parties need to be fun, and when you couple a free flow of booze with the chances of getting shocked, you know you’re in for a smashing time. After all, drinking alcohol will slow down your reflexes and perhaps dull your senses, increasing the chances of you “losing” at this game. Basically, four players will participate in this game, where each of them will grab a controller from the base unit. When the light in the middle of the base illuminates, make sure you are the first person to press the button on your controller – and get this, only the FASTEST person will be safe from any shocks.
The shock factor can also be adjusted, depending on how much of a hero(ine) or wuss you are.
HappiTaps merge toy and app genres together
Everything is getting converged these days as we push ourselves to do far more than what we were originally meant to do. I still remember back in the day where we actually had to make sure everything was in place before leaving the house, as no one carried cell phones back then. If a friend and I were to agree to meet at 6pm at a particular place, we made sure we arrived there early, as a public phone is useful only if your friend has yet to leave his or her home. Fast forward to today, and you have folks changing their plans at the very last minute simply because of the convenience of smartphones.
Well, having said that, smartphones, too, exhibit plenty of signature convergence attributes such as the inclusion of a digital camera, voice recorder, MP3 playback capability, a video phone, the whole works! It then makes perfect sense to create lovable technology, where baby brand Infantino decided to work hand in hand with publisher Tipitab in order to create a first-of-its-kind toy/app hybrid that they call HappiTaps. HappiTaps will be a spin on the classic teddy bear which everyone knows and loves, where the HappiTabs functions as a huggable cover for your iPhone or iPod touch.
Continue reading » HappiTaps merge toy and app genres together
Four Shared Cube – Lite Brite
Are you just bursting with creative juices that you just need to find an avenue to let it all out? You might want to consider the $29.99 Four Shared Cube – Lite Brite then, as this little puppy allows you to conjure up your very own lighted artwork with another 3 friends to assist you. Boasting three hundred pegs, 8 pattern sheets as well as a quartet of blank sheets, it can fold flat (ala IKEA packaging) for easy transportation and storage.
This is one toy that your kids can still continue to play, never mind that the weather has gone all dark on the outside, making it a far more creative alternative to video games if your kid loves being cooped up indoors. All you need to do is drop the cube in the middle of the table, and let each of your little tykes have a side to express their creative self. Powered by a trio of AA batteries, I would recommend rechargeables.
