tech e blog

Designed by Vivien Muller, the "Octocube" is basically "a radiator, built entirely from 90-degree pipe pieces." No word yet on if this concept will go into production. Click here for first picture in gallery.

At least there's some physics in there, though: a large surface area heater like this would be a good compromise between heating efficiency and compact size.

That's right, a seller was offering the Batmobile from Tim Burton's Batman film on eBay. Unfortunately, it has since been taken down, but if this gem were to be relisted, you'd find it on this page. Click here for first picture in gallery.

If you like the Batmobile as much as I do, and unlike me have at least $500,000, you can actually purchase the Dark Knight's superhero-mobile on eBay. The Batmobile on auction is number five of five, and with only 54 miles on the odometer, it is one rare bird indeed.

Most valve covers look drab, this NES controller-inspired creation does not. Hopefully, Nintendo takes note of how awesome this mod is and actually releases a line of auto accessories. Click here for one more picture.

Now here's a car engine that is sure to provide hours of family fun entertainment! Kotakuite Zooie sends us this photo of a Toyota that reflects the owner's driving love of the original NES

At first glance, this may look like a broken USB cable, but it's actually a fully-functional USB flash drive. Instruction page. Click here for first picture in gallery.

Obviously you wouldn't want to use the most expensive parts for this as you'll be tearing into both drive and cable, so Scientist got the KingMax for $10 off Ebay and found a cable for a buck fifty

To convert your own Nintendo DS Lite into a MIDI sequencer, all you need is "a homegrown DS MIDI apparatus along with dSTAR sequencer software." Video after the break.

Nintendo's DS Lite tends to find itself intertwined in obscure MIDI projects fairly often, so it's no shock to see yet another enterprise linking the handheld to some fairly swank beats

For just 100-yen, you could buy 5-15 minutes of playing time on these coin-operated NES (Famicom) and SNES (Super Famicom) machines. Click here for one more picture.

While a slew of hotels feature sad, generic video game controllers ready to play whatever crappy IP-streaming games the chain may offer, many Japanese hotels were once stocked with these coin-op Famicom (NES) systems

Called the HOMADE i-Player, this LEGO brick-inspired device comes in five different colors and weighs just 26g. It features a microSD card slot and USB connectivity for easy file transfers. Click here for first picture in gallery.

This is not a brick. It is a brick like MP3 player. The stylish design, combined with its light weight lets you listen to music anywhere

Unlike other robots, this weird Japanese robot / alarm clock announces the time and is capable of rolling around when pushed. Video after the break. Click here for first picture in gallery.

I'm not entirely sure what this thing is. Here's what I know: it's from Japan, it has something to do with Gundam, it's called Haro, it's got a split personality, and it perkily yells things at you in Japanese

Beamz, a "music performance system", essentially "uses a series of six lasers which you can break with your hands to play instruments like guitars, violin and even a cowbell." Video after the break. Click here for one more picture.

Breaking the laser beams with your hands automatically generates pre-authored pulses, streams, riffs or loops of musical notes or sounds from hundreds of different instruments. Choose a complementary rhythm track from 30 original songs in 19 music genres

Greenhouse has just unveiled an 8x optical zoom kit -- includes tripod and universal lens mount -- for camera phones. Available in Japan, priced at $88. Click here for first picture in gallery.

Guess what's going to happen when you bolt Greenhouse's 8x optical zoom onto your pathetic little cameraphone lens? Right, 8 times the slop.