The Child's Play charity is back!

Since 2003, over 100,000 gamers worldwide have banded together through Child's Play, a community based charity grown and nurtured from the game culture and industry. Over two million dollars in donations of toys, games, books and cash for sick kids in children's hospitals across North America and the world have been collected since our inception.

For the last two years, I've held a fund-raising event in Brooklyn for Child's Play called, cleverly, "Fünde Razor"*, where we get together and play Guitar Hero (and this year, Rock Band), drink some beer, and raffle away lots of swag and gadgets and other prizes. Every last dollar goes to Child's Play.

We'll be holding Fünde Razor again this year, but I'm happy to announce that we'll be adding a sister event in Denver, hosted by Brian Crecente, editor (among other things) of Kotaku. More details will be coming soon, but if you live in either Brooklyn or Denver and have the evening free on Wednesday, December 12th, it'll be a great time. If you can't make it, don't be shy to pick out some games for kids or donate money directly via the Child's Play website. (Heck, even if you can make it, don't let attending Fünde Razor stop you from making a donation from the comfort of your office chair. I always pick out a couple games I think kids would like every year by hand.)

Child's Play Charity (dot org)

* Three years in and I still don't know how to pronounce "Fünde Razor." Fyoon-duh Ray-zor? I guess as long as I use a German accent...

"The Hugh Thompson Show" is a strange duck. It appears to be an entirely irony-free web show of the late night television mold, completely with a band, pre-guest monologue, and live audience. It plays on the AT&T Tech Channel, a video portal with several shows that appears to be some sort of attempt to recreate TechTV online.

The host, Dr. Herbert Thompson, is "Chief Security Strategist" at People Security, an enterprise security firm. He is also a squawking, obnoxious snot, whose catchphase—yes, he has a catchphrase—is a toothy "Dude!" At first I thought Thompson was attempting a parody of a typical awkward tech-industry businessman, but after watching a couple of episodes, it appears he is actually just that kooky. Watching the show is like attending an uncomfortable party at the home of your boss, trapped in the corner as he crams crab puffs into his mouth and tells you a story about this one time where he did something "really awesome." (That's Thompson's other catchphrase.)

The last guest was Dan "Fake Steve Jobs" Lyons, who gamely chatted with Thompson about his blog and just-released book while the crowd of bored New York tourists pretended to understand a joke about Larry Ellison—specifically, a joke about readers of Fake Steve Jobs not getting jokes about Larry Ellison. Other Hugh Thompson Show guests were an Australian woman who provides a voice for Garmin GPS units and Chad Vader, who I believe has a YouTube show.

The Fake Steve Jobs clip on YouTube [embedded above] has been viewed 29 times since it was posted about a day ago. (In fairness, the AT&T Tech Channel also displays its videos on its own page, not just YouTube, although they don't put the play count numbers on their videos.)

I'm not at all opposed to AT&T doing its own online video programs. (Chase the big money that TechTV made, AT&T! Before it was bought for pocket change and dismantled, I mean!) It's quite strange, however, that they're spending thousands of dollars per episode (at least!) to develop online programs that don't seem like they'd appeal to anyone. Maybe I'm wrong. Any Hugh Thompson Show fans out there?

Getting Things Done nerds will be drooling into their file folders over the Casio USB Label Mouse Printer, which tucks a little thermal printer into the bottom of an otherwise conventional two-button mouse. Labels are printed using any TrueType font you have on your "PC," which in this context leads me to believe it's Windows-only.

It's $30 from Brando, plus $14 for a three-pack of thermal roll paper.

Catalog Page [Brando.com via Gizmodo]

The "MII Flashcam" is a tactical 85,000-candle-power LED flashlight with a built-in audio and video recorder and a 1.5-inch LCD screen. (It's "MII" as in "Mark 2," not "Nintendo," even if it does share the same bobble-headed design.) There is even a night-vision mode with a separate infrared emitter. I wonder if the camera has a night vision mode, too?

This MII Flashcam ain't cheap at $1,500, but it's marketed to police organizations, not the average peeping tom. And the web page has green lines on a black background, so you know it's from the future.

Product Page [MiiFlashcam.com via Crave.CNET.com]

These "Foldz Flat Pens" may be a little tacky looking (depending on how you feel about the Thunderbirds), but they fold up to be less than 1/8th-inches thick. Tipster Anthony suggested they fit perfectly in the back pocket of a Moleskine notebook.

They're available for $2 apiece. There are Foldz without the Thunderbirds livery, but they're still in the same glitter-infused plastic in bright colors.

Catalog Page [FabGearUSA.com] (Thanks, Anthony!)

Designed for pets, the $2,000 "JooZoo" bauble responds to pet behaviors by playing MP3s. So why the big price tag? Because it's covered in diamonds and gold.

According to the company, the play system enhances your pet’s physical health and relieves stress through automatic content responding to various pet behaviors. For example, when you leave your pet at home alone or while your pet travels in a vehicle, the JooZoo encourages physical movement or increases blood flow rate by sound wave stimulation.

Alternately, you could use your vocal chords to produce the phonemes "GUD DAHG" and initiate vibrations in the dogs head with light, repetitive downward strokes. For free.

A pet-use mp3 player adorned with diamond [Aving.net via Pocket-Lint]

In an effort to prevent disgruntled gamblers from tossing their losing tickets to the floor, the Edogawa Kyotei boat race course in Tokyo has installed this 1.6-meter tall robotic mountain goat which will eat any ticket placed in its mouth.

Robot goat feeds on gambler misfortune [PinkTentacle.com]

Bug Labs, makers of the snap-together modules that can assembled to create custom gadgets, have released more details about the "BUGbase," the hub into which all the other Bug modules will snap. The translucent white plastic has a healthy glow.

When I first heard of the Bug Labs project I wasn't sure if I'd be comfortable carrying around a Bug unit in public. I would not be ashamed to whip out this unit. And the LCD screen is touch-sensitive! That answers several of my interface questions right there.

Product Page [BugLabs.net]

This is the Nintendo "Advanced Video System," a Famicom-era concept for a home computer shown at CES in 1985. (Aw, look at the cassette drive!)

If you don't see any wires at all, it's because the entire prototype was designed to communicate via infrared. With all the hassles we have with modern radio-based wireless peripherals, I can only imagine trying to build a system around infrared would have been much more frustrating for designers and end-users both.

I really like the look of the AVS—and not just because it looks like a NES. The abundance of right angles broken up only by the 45° cursor keys looks modern still. (In perhaps a retro-modern way!)

TechEBlog has a small gallery of images.

Feature: The Game Console Nintendo Never Released [Techeblog]

Danger Room reports on the "DelFly" series of tiny flying robots built by the Delft University of Technology. The DelFly Micro, shown in the above video, has a ten-centimeter wingspan, but the DUT team are already working on subsequent models that will be half the size—easily mistaken for some sort of insect, like the purported flying mini-drones that some protesters in Washington said may have been spying on them last month.

Video: Dragonfly Drones in Flight [Danger Room]

• Star Trek The Motion Pictures 20-Disk Special Edition Dvd Collection for $39, shipped. About $20 off. [Slickdeals]

• Razor E200 Electric Scooter for $130, shipped. [Amazon via Dealhack]

• Logitech Trackman Wheel Optical Trackball for $21, shipped. I know you trackman freaks are still out there. I can smell your gorged thumbs. [Dealhack]

• Eye-Fi Wireless 2GB SD Memory Card for $100, shipped. Not a crazy price, but the best so far for an item lots of people are interested in. [Dealnews]

• Torpedo Digital Projector for $151, shipped. A total junker for HDTV, but perhaps good for other projects. [Dealnews]

• iRocker 200 Gaming Chair for $93, shipped. Includes speakers and drink holder! [Dealnews]

• Today's Woot!: Steelsound 3H Professional Gaming Headset for $25, shipped.

• Drives 'n' Things – Atomic I/O Letters Column #75. My Windows box does the same "no boot drive" thing he talks about, too. Didn't think about it being drives spinning up. Thanks again, Dan! [Dan's Data]

• By the Light of Mercury – IKEA will recycle compact florescent light bulbs for free. Don't just toss 'em—they're full of deadly quicksilver. [IKEA via The Consumerist]

• Swamp Flavored – Man samples charcoal toothpaste, feels ill. [DesignNotes.info]

• Bullshot, Indeed – The ESA sends Kotaku, a website about videogames, a takedown notice for a screenshot of a videogame. Sheesh. [Kotaku]

I don't have anything useful to say about this "B1" UMPC from Wibrain, except to point and say, "Look at the funny-looking thinger."

It's the Atari Lynx of UMPCs. That right-corner touchpad might work pretty well, though.

1st UMPC from PMP manufacturer in Korea [Asia.CNET.com via Engadget]

Firefly and Buffy creator Joss Whedon has a new series coming up...on Fox. (The same network that crapped all over Firefly, moving the time slot and running episodes out of order.) Called "Dollhouse," the new series stars Eliza Dushku as a mind-wiped assassin slave who can be imprinted with various personalities and skills to perform missions whatever.

From Fox's series description:

Echo (Eliza Dushku) [is] a young woman who is literally everybody's fantasy. She is one of a group of men and women who can be imprinted with personality packages, including memories, skills, language—even muscle memory—for different assignments. The assignments can be romantic, adventurous, outlandish, uplifting, sexual and/or very illegal. When not imprinted with a personality package, Echo and the others are basically mind-wiped, living like children in a futuristic dorm/lab dubbed the Dollhouse, with no memory of their assignments—or of much else. The show revolves around the childlike Echo's burgeoning self-awareness, and her desire to know who she was before, a desire that begins to seep into her various imprinted personalities and puts her in danger both in the field and in the closely monitored confines of the Dollhouse.

E! Online has an interview with Whedon and Dushku. Give this one a chance, Fox!

Best News Ever! Joss Whedon Spills Exclusive Deets on His New Series [EOnline.com]

Japanese manufacturer Banpresto is releasing a new line of sci-fi-themed gadgets, including a "White Base" Gundam-styled USB air ionizer, a plant pot in the shape of some sort of vine-covered bunker, a USB hub that looks vaguely but appealingly futuristic [pictured], and ballpoint pens in the shape of a robotic space module. The pot makes me want to start a little Maschinen Krieger diorama with real plants.

Banpresto gets Gundam Crazy with 7 new accessories for Mecha Fans [AkihabaraNews.com via Sci-Fi Tech via EverythingUSB.com via Coolest-Gadgets.com]

The "Glove Guard" is a cheap plastic clip designed to give you a handy place to hang your gloves when you're not wearing them—and an easy way for them to disconnect if they get caught in any machinery. Two plastic pieces are held together with a breakaway cord, one clip for your clothing and one for your gloves.

They're $5 apiece, but will probably be sold in larger quantities. One model has a clip for belt loops, while another called the "Utility Guard" slips over a belt.

Product Page [GloveGuard.com via Toolmonger]

The "Organic Batter Blaster" is an aerosol can filled with pancake and/or waffle batter, making cooking breakfast as easy as splorting some starch onto a hot griddle. No clean up! (Except for the griddle, the tip of the E-Z Cheese-like container, the plates, and utensils.)

I use a mix to make pancakes most of the time, unless I'm making buttermilk pancakes. I'm not against mixes, per se, but it seems awfully wasteful to package this all in a steel can. And probably many times more expensive. I'm sure it'll be a big hit.

Product Page [BatterBlaster.com] (Thanks, Pork Musket!)

"PC Dice" are the perfect tchotchke for the computer tweaker in your life, 3d6 of failure scrying. Throw the bones to determine what's wrong with any computer, no matter what armor class. They're $27 a set, wildly overpriced, but perhaps worth it for a shared chuckle or two.

According to Oh Gizmo!:

If you’re curious, the blue die includes the words Install, New PC, Upgrade, No Idea, Quit and $$. The green die includes Virus, Spyware, Modem, Video, Network and Reboot. And the red die includes Windows, Unix, Linux, Wireless, Wired and Mixed.

Product Page [PCDice.com via Ubergizmo via Oh Gizmo!]

The ECO Pneumo Dry Sacks, designed to keep your clothing and other personals dry when you're out in the field, are made from a non-dyed, single-coated "bamboo-based fabric" along with a recycled aluminum purge valve. I have no idea how well they work; I just think things made out of bamboo are interesting.

They again, they're priced from $30 to $45, depending on size. Seems like a lot of money for a dry bag. Maybe someone could make one out of cheap, disposable plastic?

Product Page [PacOutdoor.com via Cool Hunting]

These made-to-order corkscrews from Sveid are €50,000 apiece. The small hook that is used to operate the corkscrew is 18-carat gold, but is also available in platinum, while the body is made from "aviation titanium." The video on their site does make it seem like I lovely bit of engineering, but all I can think about is how much wine €50,000 would buy. Surely a lifetime's worth.

Product Page [Sveid.com via Born Rich via Goldarths.com]

The Freeplay Foundation, whose wind-up radios have been distributed to over 150,000 people in Africa over the last few years, is taking a stab at distributing wind-up lights. (Kerosine lamps, used in much of the developing world, are very dangerous in both daily use and for long term health.)

The Freeplay LifeLight project aims to provide crank-powered lights that can replace kerosene and other traditional lamps. There's no information on price, unfortunately, but the plan to build a local repair infrastructure sounds promising:

She said the Foundation was adopting a similar approach to that used for the wind-up Lifeline radio to get the lights to families.
Instead of just giving the lights out and then leaving, the Foundation aims to recruit women who will sell the lights and be trained to repair and maintain them for customers.

Wind-up lights for African homes [BBC]

I'm all for jazzing up an old standard, even if it's in an attempt to sell something frilly to a nebulously defined set of feminine women, but these flower-clad hammer, pliers, and screwdriver from the "Floral Tool Kit" are just plain ol' ugly. That's a shame—there's nothing hotter than a women wielding tools.

(Incongruously, I still really like pink tools and gadgets. But those are for me, not anybody else.)

Catalog Page [Giftmonger.com via Red Ferret]

• Wal-Mart (Not-So-)Secret Sale, including a 1080i Toshiba HD-A2 HD DVD player for $100 and an Acer Laptop for $350. In-store only and you'll have to fight the crowds, but those are very good deals. [Dealnews]

• Philips Wireless FM Transmitter for $11, shipped. [Dealnews]

• 3D Fuzion GeForce MX 4000 128MB DDR PCI Video Card for $0 after $20 rebate. This is a PCI card, not PCI-E, so think "secondary monitor" not "games." [Dealnews]

• Franklin 18-Gauge Steel Casket for $1,253 shipped. These are easiest to size before you are dead. [Dealnews]

• Today's Woot!: Anycom Solar Bluetooth Car Kit for $95 $55, shipped.

Congratulations to Andrew Pam, selected at random (by Random.org) to receive the Neuros OSD and NAS. Hats off as well to clay whose massive crunching qualified him for first place and thus the bonus prize, a Nokia N95.

One week ago Team bOING bOING was formed. Last night was the end of the contest. In a beautiful bit of serendipity, it was also the point at which Team bOING bOING took the number one spot on Cosmology@Home, allowing me to say for the first time ever in a distributing computing project: Suck it, Ars Technica!*

I've got some more prizes I'll be announced soon for members of the team, so keep crunching those units if you'd like to remain eligible. Great job everyone!

* Just kidding. Please don't come stomp us.

The culmination of American consumer electronics: the $130 starch-and-sugar-dispensing "Dough-Nu-Matic," an all-in-one machine that forms and fries mini-doughnuts in just under a minute. Without too much trouble I should be able to saw off the small plastic catch at the end and position my yawning maw directly underneath, each donut triggering an infrared sensor that activates a motorized belt attached to my jaw. Two jugs will be positioned over my head, one of milk, the other coffee, spraying a constant mist into my mouth to provide lubrication. Every twelfth doughnut will contain a creamy Klonopin filling.

At random intervals, a distant alarm will sound, barely discerned through the waxy lard that sloughs out of my ears, signifying that somewhere a war has been waged, an endangered species has passed irrevocably through the veil, or that one of my countrymen have been rendered to provide oil for my doughnut fryer. Knotted workmen will scamper across my cracking grey husk using psoriatic skin shards as hand holds, as I defecate an ever-spiraling wizard's tower of red, white, and blue.

Catalog Page [Skymall (Where else?) via CrunchGear]

Rock, Paper, Shotgun interviews Erik Wolpaw, writer of Portal (and perhaps the one person I can point to who most inspired and influenced my writing "style.")

Also, there is cake. Why’s that? Well, there are lots of message games coming out now. Like they’ve got something really important to get off their chest about the war in Iraq or the player is forced to make some dicey underwater moral choices. Really, just a whole heck of a lot of stuff to think about. With that in mind, at the beginning of the Portal development process, we sat down as a group to decide what philosopher or school of philosophy our game would be based on. That was followed by about fifteen minutes of silence and then someone mentioned that a lot of people like cake.

RPS Interview: Valve’s Erik Wolpaw [Rock, Paper, Shotgun]

The ballistic nylon look is extremely dated, but that aside, the Skooba Superbungee Strap looks like it could save those who carry overweighted laptop bags a compressed disc or two. Gearlog tried one of the $26 bungee-filled straps on their laptop bag and couldn't have been happier:

In my informal tests, in which I stuffed various bags with way too much stuff, I found the Superbungee Strap to be very comfortable, putting minimal strain on my shoulder. It also stayed in place, so I didn't have to worry about the bag moving around during my commute, which consists of two subways and lots of stair-climbing. I tried the Strap out with a few of my own bags, including a duffel bag that has caused me lots of back and shoulder discomfort in the past, and could literally feel the improvement.

Now just to get other manufacturers to incorporate this design into their bags, obviating the need to pay $26 for $5 worth of materials.

Hands (Shoulders?) On: Roadwired Skooba Superbungee Strap [Gearlog.com]

The tank limo trend in the U.K. continues apace with the "Limotrack," a converted BV206 Full-Tracked Articulated Personnel Carrier that will carry your drunken friends in style at speeds up to 35MPH. Inside its been retrofitted with a drinks cooler, a sound system, and a freak-out-your-date smoke machine. It is also supposedly amphibious, so if the party gets boring in London you can attempt a drunken invasion of France.

If you must... [LimoTrack.co.uk via Red Ferret]

The Asus Eee solid-state sub-notebook is now on sale to the plebes for $400 at Newegg. Having recently been loaned a small UMPC for review, I think I've finally come to terms with the fact that no laptop should have less than a full-sized keyboard, even if it skimps in other areas, like the Eee's tiny screen.

I want one, of course, but I'll take my time. The $400 starting price for the 4GB model is just a skotch more than I want to pay for a toy. I'll wait until these first models are on clearance.

Catalog Page [Newegg.com]

I've never seen The Secret Life of Machines, a purportedly light-hearted documentary series by Tim Hunkin and Rex Garrod, but it comes highly recommend by one Hon. D. Rutter, so I gather it's worth a download. Lucky for me, then, that its creators have put new versions online for free download, including episodes in an "iPhone" format, quite very nearly DVD quality. I'm slurping them down now. (Firefox users with FlashGot: This is a very great time to use the filter feature of the "FlashGot All" selection. Just filter for "m4v" and it'll queue up all the episodes.)

The Secret Life of Machines [Exploratorium.edu via Dan's Data]

Unlike the common blue masking tape used to edge spaces you intend to paint, the edges of the light-green "Frog Tape" bond with latex paint to prevent bleeding. I'm not entirely sure what it is that they're doing differently—probably some new adhesive—but it's only six bucks a roll, so pick some up and let us know how well it works. If nothing else, it looks convincing in the demo videos on their site.

Product Page [FrogTape.com via PopSci]

This "Xenide" flashlight from AELight has a metal halide and xenon emitter, similar to those used in HID headlights on high-end cars and tuned late '90s Honda Civics. It's powered by a rechargeable lithium ion battery and can throw 900 or so lumens up to 2,200 feet—nearly half a mile. It's $350 for a 15-watt version; $500 for the 25-watt.

Product Page [AELight.com via PopSci via Oh Gizmo!]

Despite a love of calculators* and big, shiny belt buckles, this convergence does not appeal to my outer geek.

Well, okay, it does. But I'm resisting. It's $10, plus shipping. Worth every penny if you can use the lines "I've just calculated that you, my lady, are a perfect ten" or "Would you like to help me calculate the volume of a cylinder?"

Catalog Page [BeWild.com via Nerd Approved via Geek Alerts via Technabob]

* Yet a hatred of math.

This lovely bit of papercraft celebrates Valve's hit first-person puzzle shooter Portal. Its creator, Tubbypaws, has been kind enough to provide a file you can print out to make your own.

Relatedly, I have been discovering all sorts of disturbing "Rule 34" Portal porn images, so perverted I have yet to discover a way to put them on the site in good taste. Let's just say that self-pleasure can get very interesting when you have a magical looking glass through which you can grab your own splayed ass cheeks.