August 31st, 2009 by Amanda

Lego playsets that never were, but should have been.

Now presenting: Dune.

Thank you MAKE Magazine.

August 31st, 2009 by Amanda

This is pretty ridiculous and I feel requires little to no explanation.

Unfortunately, this hits very close to home with me. I was harassed quite a bit from people wanting to do naughty things to my Night Elf when I played World of Warcraft. Ah sweet memories…

Thanks Cosplay in America for this gem.

August 31st, 2009 by Amanda

There Will Be Brawl Episode 7: Pandora’s Box is now up and running, finally! There are only two episodes left, what will I do when it’s over?! There also might be a possible appearance at MAGFEST.

They say “TWBB have been contacted by and have been pondering the idea of presenting at the upcoming Music And Gaming Festival (http://magfest.org/) just outside of Washington D.C.

It’s four days of non stop video gaming and live video game cover bands, which is kinda up our alley, and wanted to see how much interest there would be from our viewers to see us in attendance!

If you could, hop on over and check out what MAGFEST is all about, and drop them a line if you would be interested in seeing us there!”

August 11th, 2009 by Amanda

Have you ever had the suspicion that you might be the famous masked caped crusader, but have never quite been sure? Well fear not!! Just consult this flow chart to see if you are the real Batman. It is also a shirt that can be purchased here. It also comes in eleven different colors.

August 9th, 2009 by Amanda

If this doesn’t embody fantasy in real life, I don’t know what does.

io9 says:

“If Star Wars Was Real retells the history of the 20th century with some added players, offering up a Photoshopped-fantasia of nerditry and “What If”s. Click through to see more.”

Read More »

August 9th, 2009 by Amanda

Atlas Obscura says:

“In the depths of northeastern India, in one of the wettest places on earth, bridges aren’t built – they’re grown. The Ficus elastica produces a series of secondary roots from higher up its trunk and can comfortably perch atop huge boulders along the riverbanks, or even in the middle of the rivers themselves.

The root bridges, some of which are over a hundred feet long, take ten to fifteen years to become fully functional, but they’re extraordinarily strong – strong enough that some of them can support the weight of fifty or more people at a time.

These bridges were re-discovered by Denis P. Rayen of the Cherrapunjee Holiday Resort. Due to his efforts to promote interest in the bridges, the local population has been alerted to their potential worth and has kept them from being destroyed in favor of steel ones. What’s more, a new root bridge is currently being grown and should be ready for use within a decade.”

Read the whole article here.

August 8th, 2009 by Amanda

I went on a hunt today for the best real life Pokemon I could find. Unfortunately, I was not able to catch them all, but luckily I caught ten of them.

Cubone.

Pikachu.

Read More »

August 8th, 2009 by Amanda

Courtesy of MAKE Magazine and Boing Boing.

“Tom Elverston decided to make his own pair of black leather dust goggles — tres Mad Max — from an old leather jacket and some pieces of tempered and UV resistant glass from halogen ‘puck style’ lights.” Go here for all of the directions.

Read More »

August 7th, 2009 by Amanda

Even Master Chief mows the lawn.

Thank you sunnyheadcase for submitting this.
Also thank you to Kotaku and WinterWolf Studios.

August 7th, 2009 by Amanda

Just what ever cosplayer needs!! As you can see, they appear to be just normal cat ears, but with a secret headphone surprise connected to the ends, so you can listen to music and look super cute at the same time!!
I can’t imagine wearing them everyday, but maybe to a convention like AX. They are a really cute idea though.

Thank you sunnyheadcase for submitting this link.

August 7th, 2009 by Sydney

Hello everyone.

Senna and Sydney will be at the Official Star Trek Convention at the Las Vegas Hilton this weekend, Friday through Sunday.  We’ll try to update the blog when we can with photos but if that can’t happen (because of lack of  internet access  or something) I’ll definitely be updating our Twitter.  We’re actually pretty unprepared as far as convention programming goes so if anyone has any suggestions of events and things to go to, let us know. Maybe we’ll see some of you there?

And thanks Amanda for always doing such a great job maintaining the blog while we’re away.

August 6th, 2009 by Amanda

I wanna go!! Unfortunately, I don’t live anywhere near Michigan. But if any of you do please tell us how it is.

MAKE Magazine says:

“The Geek-a-thon is ellohay! West Michigan’s first annual install-fest. This evening event will bring geeks from all over the area together to help prepare 100 computers to be given away, free of charge, to at-risk and impoverished high school students in Grand Rapids.
ellohay! is expecting approximately 100 guests for an evening of games, robotics demonstrations, food and drinks. Admission is free and open to the public. There will be t-shirt, sticker and button sales, and door prizes as well.

Guests and vendors include, Geek-Aid West Michigan, MadCap Coffee, Astronomer Rickey Ainsworth from the Grand Rapids Public Museum Planetarium, the Lego Mindstorm Robotic youth group presenting their Robo-Sumo match, Intelligent Interactive Technology from Jason Sosa’s Immersive Labs, Comprenew Environmental eWaste truck, and more.

The ellohay! team is working directly with Geek-Aid of West Michigan, who is holding their Geek-Aid 2009 benefit concert the same day in Grand Rapids to raise awareness of youth poverty and digital exclusion in West Michigan.

If you’re interesting in participating, ellohay! is in need the geeks and nerds of West Michigan to come together and volunteer a few hours of their time to a great cause that will help stimulate job growth, foster community, increase school participation, fight poverty and digital exclusion, and create new jobs.

More information can be found at www.ellohay.org, by calling 1 (877) ellohay, or by emailing hello@ellohay.org.”

August 6th, 2009 by Sydney

This may be a bit of old news but…

In England, surveillance cameras are being installed into a number of government-subsidized homes.   Their purpose? To watch over the children of “problem families” (whatever that means), making sure they do their homework and get to bed one time.  So parents are incapable raising their children themselves now, I guess. I mean, yeah, there are some people out there that aren’t fit to be parents but could this new system of child welfare also ultimately encourage even more parental neglect and laziness than got them put into the special housing in the first place?

Also, special security will drop by each home from time to time to check in on the kids.  With constant watch over them, the government hopes that fewer of these potentially troubled children will turn to crime or drug and alcohol abuse as ways to cope with their tumultuous family lives.

Like I said, sounds to me like the government is just putting families into a situation where they can be more lazy, knowing that someone is already always watching out for their children.  That or parents and children alike will learn, if they haven’t already, to fear the government.

I think at this point it would be too obvious mention Orwellian future, Big Brother or hey, I wasn’t aware it was still 1984.  Oh wait… I just did.

(via Gizmodo via Daily Express)

August 6th, 2009 by Amanda

Sydney is currently conducting interviews about the Future. You can read my answers to her questionnaire on her website Future-Speak. She also encourages everybody to fill out the questions and send them to her at sydney@future-speak.com or via the Future-Speak contact page.

1. What does the future look like?
2. What color is the sky?
3. What does the future smell like?
4. What does the future taste like?
5. What color is the future?
Read More »

August 4th, 2009 by Amanda

We just can’t get enough Steampunk. This was a Steampunk picnic held at The New York Renaissance Faire in Tuxedo, New York. Oh, if only I lived in New York…

Here are some pictures from the event. The little kids are my favorite!!

Thank you every one who took pictures. You can view them all here.