Just in time for the best holiday of the year, this "3D Pumpkin Pack" from LEGO lets you put out a Jack O' Lantern that won't rot or be chunked to smithereens from an I-70 overpass. (Not that I know anything about either.) All provided you don't actually leave it outside, of course.

It's $18 and will ship by the 12th, they say. But if you've already got the pieces—who has that much orange?—LEGO has been kind enough to put the instructions for the 3D version, a 2D version, and a witch online for free.

Catalog Page [Shop.LEGO.com via PopGadget]

The Pultius remote from Art Lebedev is half a meter long, with separate buttons for channels one through ninety-nine. (And "100," "200," and "300" buttons for good measure.) I sort of love it. It is likely just a design project, not a product on its way to retail, but it's Art Lebedev, so you never know.

Product Page [ArtLebedev.com]

While it's impossible to say if the Pioneer SE-CLX9 are decent headphones or not—they're Japan-only at the moment—the amount of included rubber ear pieces are impressive, to say the least. Some are for comfort, some to change the sound—they're all probably pretty unnecessary.

SE-CLX9, the ultimate canal type headphone from Pioneer [Akihabara News via CrunchGear]

It's all a goofy-ass gimmick to promote a foreign exchange company, but a group of "scientists" has developed QUIDs—Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denominations—rounded polymer chits to be used for transactions "in space."

"None of the existing payment systems we use on earth - like cash, credit or debit cards - could be used in space," said Professor George Fraser from the University of Leicester. "Anything with sharp edges, like coins, would be a risk to astronauts while the chips and magnetic strips used in our cards on Earth would be damaged beyond repair by cosmic radiation," he added. ... "In the fullness of time we will have to adopt a universal currency if we are going to carry out serious commerce in space. It's an interesting initiative."

[Redacted] said: "It's only a matter of time before people will be walking up to our shops and asking for Quids for their two weeks in a space hotel."

Before QUIDs all the astronauts on Mir had to wash out Russian food tubes to get a hot meal. I'm sure a pocket full of QUIDs would be worth the several thousand dollars in fuel expenses.

New currency for space travellers [BBC] (Thanks, Sandra!)

• Palm Nukem Forever – Palm CEO Ed Colligan admits the Linux-based Palm OS update won't be available until late 2008. [Phonescoop] The Kicker: Shares are down on profit reports. Forbes]

• I Heard That – Verizon subscribers can switch calling plans without being forced to extend their contract. [CNN Money/PR Newswire]

• EU SKU Revue – Sony announced new, cheaper Playstation 3 model in Europe. Matching North American product likely. [Kotaku]

• Bungie Jumps – Halo creator Bungie splits from Microsoft, remains friendly. [Reuters]

The Ridgid SeeSnake micro places a camera at the end of a 3-foot flexible cable and displays the video on a built-in 2.4-inch screen. By buying extensions the cable can be lengthened up to 30 feet and will remain fully waterproof up to 10. Various attachments can be placed on the end, including a small mirror, a hook, and a magnet.

It's $240. Use code "COURIC" for a 0% discount.

Product Page [Ridgid.com via Gearlog]

From the guy who did it and uploaded it:

I BlackShadowMist pull off one of the luckiest sticks in Halo 3 history, which boils down to total insanity. A Cross-Map, off wall, air lift, sticky. With 99.999% of luck involved. Cannot reattempt and succeed

My WiLL Be Done [MigPro] (Thanks, Brett!)

Just when I was about to finally remove all the ultra-nerdy t-shirts from my wardrobe—no cartoon characters; no slogans—Thinkgeek cooks up this "Wi-Fi Detector Shirt," which actually displays the signal from 802.11b/g with glowing bars on the front. It's only $30, but I don't think I could ever wear it in public.

I'm asking too much, I know, but how awesome would it be if it had an extra signifier for open networks?

Product Page [Thinkgeek.com via Gizmodo]

Belkin and gaming peripherals company Razer have teamed up to release the "n52te SpeedPad," one of those strange power-gamer devices created for the hard core PC gamer who never chats during the game to his friends. It's got all the typical stuff, including programmable keys. It'll be available next month for $70.

I've always found these things to be appealing in a way, but odd. I don't find using a full-sized keyboard especially onerous when gaming, nor do I think that giving a slight ergonomic tweak to the position of the buttons and such really helps all that much. And again, while voice chat is becoming more common, supplanting typing mid-game, there are still plenty of times when I need to hit some strange key in a game to activate an uncommonly used function.

Does anybody use one of these type of controllers and love it? I'm actually sort of looking at these things, because I'm thinking about moving my gaming/media PC off my desk into a corner, ditching my office chair for a couch. Right now, my planned solution is craft something like the Phantom Lapboard to rest on my lap.

Product Page/Press Release [Belkin via Oh Gizmo!]

Co-branded "fashion phones" have typically been a snooze (discounting the shock to the senses one gets when looking at their price), all fancy materials but no fancy brains. It's much harder for a no-name Chinese company to clone gold than software, although I'm sure they'll figure that out in time.

The new "Armani Phone," built by Samsung and dominated by an iPhone-like touchscreen, includes two software features that will, for a short time, set it apart. A "rape alarm" can be activated by pressing the volume control four times, causing the phone to automatically text message up to five preprogrammed numbers. Those contacted can in turn activate the phone's GPS tracking module.

Thankfully, I can't find any specific reference from Samsung or Armani describing this function as a "rape alarm," a term that seems somehow insulting, as the only reason a person would need to use this function is if they were raped, or that the fashionable are more likely to be sexually attacked than those less stylish. (I'm not making a joke here, should you not be laughing; just noting a weird turn of phrase from the news.)

The other feature of note helps locate stolen phones:

The £375 Armani phone also has its own kind of Lojack in the event it is lost or stolen. If the SIM card is removed and replaced with a new one, a text message containing the phone number associated with the new SIM card is secretly sent out to three preprogrammed numbers.

That is a fine feature.

Armani Phone Combats Rape and Theft [Switched.com]

Update: This "rape" alarm thing is really sticking in my craw.

I can't find any official references to either the term or the functionality in Samsung or Armani press releases. (I've put out a request to Samsung for clarification.) As far as I can tell, the term first used by the Daily Mail in a caption.

I may be bristling too much, but this is strange on many levels.

• The phone, while a "fashion" device, is not necessarily being marketed only to women. The Daily Mail story referenced the first two pre-orders coming from Spike Lee and Samuel L. Jackson, for instance. There is also nothing overtly feminine about its design.

• An "I'm in danger" alert could be useful in a variety of situations, not just rape.

• This may say more about my connotive instincts about the word rape than others', but it seems like the term and the scenario it implies presumes the phone will be used by women—and that women are more likely to be raped than men (which seems to be true by a factor of 10). To presume that the most common attack on women is rape, however, smacks of fear mongering (if the term was used by Samsung/Armani) or misogyny (if it originated with the press).

• The alert feature, if it even exists, is not an inherently effective rape deterrent, certainly no more effective at preventing rape than it could be at preventing other kinds of attack.

None of this has to do with questioning the overall merit of the alert feature. If it worked reliable, it could clearly be a useful tool for those in danger. (User interface implementation and false alarms aside.) It's just strange that so many people are using what appears to be such an inaccurate and emotionally volatile word.

Capitol Records v. Jammie Thomas, a federal trial about file-sharing, completed yesterday in Capitol's favor. Jammie Thomas must pay $222,000 for download 24 songs, or $9,250 per song.

And so it begins.

Farhad "Machinist" Manjoo has some analysis, including this ominous warning: "The worst possible outcome -- a fine too high to bear, but likely too low to cause much effort at reforming copyright laws."

Defendant owes $222,000 for illegal downloading [Machinist.Salon.com]

Norton's new campaign in Japan includes the new "Norton Fighter" character fighting ninja-like virus bad guys. More than just commercials, they're running little skits in Akihabara. Unlike American costumed marketing weirdoes, these guys actually get into it, creating something between Power Rangers and interpretive dance.

Japan Probe, bless them, shot a lot of video of the campaign, including the live sketch embedded above.

Norton Fighter: The Antivirus Superhero [JapanProbe.com]

Glass toilets, thank god, aren't completely glass—the bowl remains opaque. The tanks, however, are see-through, the better to be filled with leaping fish, buddhas, and lighthouse scenes. Prices run in the low- to mid-hundreds. Please don't buy these.

Product Page [GlassToilets.com via Red Ferret]

Japan-only for now, the latest Yahama Digital Sound Projector, the YSP-500, puts 18 carefully positioned speakers in a box 24-inches wide. Previous sound projectors from Yamaha, which do an able job of emulating surround sound out of a single box, have been around 40-inches.

It's $650 in Japan. North American release may happen, but it probably depends on the response Yamaha has had to the bigger models. I haven't had one in my home for long-term use, but I really like the concept, as I'm starting to value perfect 3D placement of sound in home theater less than ease of installation.

yamaha ysp-500: virtual surround gets downsized [Technabob]

I really like the look of the new "Amp+ Sport Remote Control" watch from Nike, which integrates with the Nike+ iPod Nano wireless receiver and training module. The LED grid is showing playback control feedback in the picture, but also displays the time.

The only place I run is to the bodega to get more cigarettes—I exercise, actually, but just loathe running; Plus: Bad knees!—but if I were a yogger I'd find the whole Nike+ iPod package irresistible. And it's even affordable at $80. At that price it's almost worth just buying the watch for general purpose use. (Of course, you'd also need to buy the $30 Sport Kit. And an iPod Nano.)

Nike's Amp+ watch: hearts your heart and iPod, too [Engadget]

Before the iPhone came out, I wrote a piece saying that the only way to send a message to Apple that you wanted an open phone with third-party application support was not to buy one. Then, a day after the iPhone was released, I bought one. (And then donated some cash to the EFF out of guilt.)

I still really like the iPhone. I still genuinely think we have a right, perhaps not just as customers, but as members of a society that has chosen to recognize the ownership of material goods, to expect to be able to do what we want with hardware we own (while not expecting the support of companies that may not share the same principles). But Mark Pilgrim, writing about Apple, the iPhone, and the relationship Apple has with its customers, makes some very noteworthy points:

My current theory is that it's some twisted form of wish fulfillment. "I wish this company understood the value of openness, but they don't, so I'm going to keep buying their closed, crippled shit until they get it." Yeah, let me know how that works out for you. And while you were waiting breathlessly for them to "get it," Apple locked out third-party videos. And third-party hardware. And third-party ringtones, applications, and carriers. ProsperityOpenness is just around the corner!

Apple apologists often chide critics by reminding that "Apple is a business." Fair enough. But it's also important to realize that "Apple is a business" might not be the excuse for the problem, but the root of the problem itself.

You can publicly shame a successful company into making small concessions, but on the whole it's money that speaks the loudest. At the end of the day, the general public has a lot more market influence than we nerds. Maybe it's more productive to put all the effort expending to keeping Apple in check towards creating competitive solutions that address our smaller market's needs.*

If Wishes Were iPhones [DiveIntoMark.org via Daring Fireball]

Bonus Link: The iPhone Freedom Fighters [Slate]

* Yes, I think it's weird that I just grew a two-foot beard, too.

Apparently the new Apple keyboards attempt to mitigate accidental CAPS LOCK strikes by ignoring short key presses. Smart—I'm sure we'll see that in most new keyboards soon.

Jonathan Rentzsch tells his tale of discovery:

But I did notice something odd. I rarely use the Caps Lock key, but often accidently bang it, missing the left Shift key. I would feel the mistake while typing, but then I'd look down and see Caps Lock hadn't been engaged after all. Oh, I must have just imagined my mis-strike.

Over the next few weeks, this kept happening to the point where I started questioning reality. I was positive I hit it. This required scientifical investigation.

apple's antiCAPSLOCK [Rentzsch.com via Daring Fireball]

• Refurbished Zune 30 for $105 at Woot. This is a special deal, not the typical daily Woot deal. And a good deal, too, considering that the Zune 30 will be able to be updated to the same firmware as the Zune "2" models. [Woot]

• Lots of cheap toys at Amazon, some up to 75% off. More pre-Xmas clearance. Don't buy junk, please. Do buy "Scrabble: Junior Edition" for $5. [Slickdeals]

• Unlocked Nokia N95 Smartphone for $580, shipped, after rebate. Yes, that's actually considered a good deal for this phone. [Dealnews]

• Craftsman 26-Gallon Wheeled Vertical Air Compressor (2HP) for $180. You'll want to do an in-store pick-up at Sears. The shipping is nuts. [Dealnews]

• Today's actual Woot! is a Woot off! Go Go Go!

Every day a new Duncan Bros. short hits the web is a holiday. This one even has gadgets, if you can accept dual Desert Eagle nunchucks as a gadget. (I do!)

Previously: • Video: The Inassailable Awesomeness of Overdrift [BBG]
• Video: Overdrift: Stage 2 Teaser [BBG]

Image: kayakbiker

First released in 1955, the Huffy Radio Bike featured a real, working AM radio inside its body, powered by batteries held in a rear rack carrier, with signals received by an antenna wired inside the frame.

From a contemporary ad in Boys Life: "Not a toy. Powerful radio has lock, sensitive tuner, volume control, clear-tone speaker. The bike's a beauty; streamlined design, gearshift, new easy-pedal tires."

Huffy later made strap-on plastic models for other bike models, but they just aren't the same.

More Pictures [Nostalgic.net]

Previously: Cy-Fi: Wireless iPod Speakers for Bicycles [BBG]

It's rare that I get pitches from electronics components vendors and even more rare for me to post them, but these "TASEL" displays from Planar have some nifty potential uses. They're transparent, for one, but can also be crafted in curved shapes. You could even drill through the glass for mounting.

Bear in mind, these aren't LCD replacements. The electroluminescent markings can be turned on and off, actually quite a bit like old LCD displays like those in watches or cheap handheld games. But by breaking up the EL segments and controlling them properly, it would still be easy to make gauges and other useful widgets.

Anyway, if you're building a new skyscraper or the world's most space aged Barcalounger or something, use one of these panels.

Product Page [Planar]

These strange little fetuses are "Lobies," plastic gel clips that go around your ear and can hold most common earbud designs. I'm not sure it that's a good thing or not, comfort aside, since many earbuds are designed to only be loud enough when they're actually in your ear, but they're only going to be $12, so I'm sure they'll work well enough for some. If there's one thing that almost everyone can agree on it's that earbuds, despite being the bundled headphone included with pretty much every type of gadget, actually sort of suck.

Yes, they come in colors other than placenta pink.

Product Page [MyLobie.com via Macworld via Gadget Lab]

Hacoa, a Japanese brand that sells $435 wooden keyboards, will soon be releasing a DIY kit that will save you a little money. The new "Ki-Board DIY Kit" is $300, but includes a partially-routered board, all the parts you'll need to create the board, and even tools. If only it were wireless!

Yamaguchi Kougei, the wood products and lacquerware dealer based in Fukui prefecture that created the Hacoa brand, typically crafts each keyboard by hand in a labor-intensive process that allows them to complete one keyboard per day. The slow production process makes it difficult for the company to fill large orders and prompts them to charge around 50,000 yen ($435) per keyboard. However, Hacoa's new "Ki-Board DIY Kit" (ki, which sounds like "key," means "tree" or "wood" in Japanese) aims to lighten the company's labor load -- and boost production and lower prices -- by letting the purchaser do some of the cutting and assembling at home.

DIY wooden keyboard kit [Pink Tentacle]

This "Streamgarden" counter-top hydroponics kit is cute, having used an AeroGrow for several months that uses a related technique ("aeroponics"), I tend to think you'd be better off just buying a few cheap plastic pots and some soil and doing it the old fashioned way. The idea of only having to water once per week is nice as first, but you soon discover you have to give periodic maintenance to the water chambers to prevent mold, not to mention paying for the electricity to run them.

Growing plants in soil isn't hard—it was probably the very first thing we learned to do as a species on our way to civilization—and paying $150 for some pots isn't as trouble-free as it may first seem. Save the hydro/aeroponics for Epcot and missions to Mars. It may be slightly easier to get plants to grow inside with hydroponic systems (and lamps, which the Streamgarden does not include like the AeroGrow), but when you're ready to transfer the plants into bigger containers, you'll have a much greater success rate with soil. (Although hardy plants, like peppers, can sometimes survive a transplant from aeroponic environment to soil.)

Green Fortune's Streamgarden [Apartment Therapy]

Watch as this Muppet—surely a precursor to Sesame Street's Cookie Monster—devours a toothsome talking gadget with his mouth full of fangs. Considering the punchline, this could be the origin story that explains why CM didn't have teeth!

[via Core77]

Trusting in a gadget during one of the defining moments of your life might be risky, but if you want your marriage proposal to include a multimedia presentation, the "Euricase" with built-in LCD screen and speaker that can play video and display pictures, is the right ring box for the job. I want to pooh-pooh the whole concept, but it's not super expensive—$250—and in the hands of a talented suitor could be part of a fun experience, showing pictures from your courtship while playing the song to which you first danced.

Okay, no, that sounds horrible. If you're geeky enough to buy this box, you should probably hire someone with more taste to help you put together the presentation. And keep it short! Don't make your partner wait until a commercial break to say yes.

Product Page [Euricase.com via Oh Gizmo!]

While it's a marketing tool for a company that sells replacement iPod batteries, the "iPod Deathclock" is an amusing way to guesstimate how much life your current iPod has left. They even try to factor in the number of times you've dropped it, your daily use patterns, etc., although with any of the Flash-based models, the only real factor would be the battery. By plugging in your serial number, though, they can tell you exactly when your iPod was manufactured, which is sort of interesting.

Of course if you really wanted to zazz things up, you could put Dethklok on your iPod.

iPod Death Clock [iPodMechanic.com via Lifehacker]

Here's a shrewd bit of engineering: the "Replug" is a two-part device that adds an easy, tension- and magnetic-based release to any standard 3.5mm miniJack plug. Once the Replug is in place, any dangerous level of tension will cause the Replug to pop off of the jack stud, saving stress on the jack itself.

Price isn't announced yet—they aren't going on sale until "Fall," but I dig the idea.

Product Page [Replug.com via Oh Gizmo! via Crunchgear]

Daniel Rutter has reviewed the "Krill electronic glow sticks," electro-luminescent tubes that emulate chemical glo-sticks, but are powered by batteries. As per usual, reading one of Dan's meticulous reviews of products others might glide right past is rustic delight, a surprise pat of butter in the middle of a slice of cornbread. (Perhaps "rustic" implies something slip-shod, which Dan's work is not. How about "artisanal"?)

Even my old dim AA stick - an "Original" model, as opposed to the much brighter "Extreme" version - is a heck of a lot better than nothing if you needed to find your way in the dark. Its light output is similar to that of the backlight on many small mobile phones, and heaven knows enough people have used those as flashlights in a pinch.

The approximate illumination threshold for human colour vision - which doesn't really matter when your light source only has one colour in it, but stay with me here - is about one lux. The minimum illumination level for any kind of useful vision at all, for normal adult humans whose eyes have adjusted to the dark, is about 0.1 lux. You'll probably still be able to grope your way around with less than 0.1 lux - if you've got decent night vision, even the 0.001 lux of a clear moonless night is better than nothing - but 0.1 lux is a pretty good place to put the line below which you'll start using touch as much as vision.

Krill electronic glow sticks (from smallest to biggest!) [Dan's Data]

Japanese phone carrier DoCoMo is showing off a prototype mobile at this year's CEATEC trade show that uses bioelectrical impedance to measure your body fat percentage, as well as some method to gauge how bad your breath stinks. Sounds like a perfect one-two punch for pre-date psyche-ups: hate yourself for being overweight, but take solace that your mouthwash works. Then when the night goes south, deviously hand the phone over to your date.

DoCoMo's ego-crushing phone [Gearfuse]

An intrepid Newton hacker has figured out how to turn Apple's failed PDA into an almost-fully-functional phone, primarily with the simple addition of the old Nokia Card Phone 2.0 and a headset. Placing calls is a snap, although the Newton can only receive calls when it's set in a specific mode. Since the hacker, Marcus Hammerschmitt, lives in Europe the card works just fine on their GSM frequencies, but North American Newton lovers looking to iPhone-ify their PDAs will have to find a comparable bit of hardware—if it exists.

Instant Nirvana (Machine Translated) [Antville.org via Gadget Lab via TUAW]

The "Post a Phone" from designer Priestman Goode is made to be mailed in a standard flat-pack A5 envelope, along with an ample spool of telephone cord. It's a cunning design, but what struck me most was his choice of materials: recycled cardboard and plastic. Now I imagine the phone itself is made of plastic, but why? Since the Post a Phone concept implicitly acknowledges the disposable nature of an occasional necessity, could it be possible to put the electronics in a more recyclable housing?

I'm just thinking out loud here. It very well may be more expensive from cradle-to-grave* to make cardboard a reasonable substitute for a single piece of plastic. It just seems like these are the sort of products where paper and cardboard would be great solutions.

Post A Phone by Priestman Goode [Dezeen via Core77]

* Or "cradle-to-cradle," as the case may be.

Microsoft released new models of their Zune media players, adding the following:

•