Way back in August, Ginger tipped over a glass of juice and her laptop became a gigantic, smoking paperweight.  In the comments section, a lot was made about the lack of waterproofing on laptops and other computer peripherals.  Granted, there are waterproof computers, but they're fairly expensive and there are hardware limitations with the average Toughbook (and laptops in general, to be honest), but you don't see a ton of that damage prevention technology crossing over into the desktop world, where you're a lot more likely to be drinking something while working.

That's where iKey comes in.  Even though the constant use of iSomething is really getting on my last good nerve, the keyboards the company makes are just awesome.  Take, for example, this completely waterproofed keyboard.  iKey specializes in military and hospital applications, and they make a lot of very rugged, resistant, integrated keyboard, pointing devices, and displays if you're the kind of guy who drags his desktop out into a monsoon or who works closely with a lot of liquids and needs a keyboard that can take a blast from the fire hose. 

Since the weakest point in your average laptop is the keyboard, couldn't they somehow graft one of these stainless-steel bad boys into a laptop to make it a little more spill resistant? 

I've got a laptop that I absolutely love.  It's the only computer I have these days that can run World of Warcraft, and as such, it gets a lot of action.  Unfortunately, it's still second place after my desktop in functionality, if only because my desktop has a full-sized keyboard, slightly faster internet connection, and all the word processors that I sometimes use to type out my posts for blogs like this one here.  My HP has been the best desktop I've ever had, but without a RAM boost and possibly a faster processor, it's about at the end of its lifespan. 

Until that day, my laptop remains a second-class citizen.  My mouse is one place, my charging cable is stretched across the floor, my laptop case is somewhere else, and my laptop itself is in yet another location, fighting with my desktop for space.  Organization is not my strong suit (neither is punctuality, but that's another story), so I need something like this IKEA laptop workstation to get everything organized.  If I could put it in the exercise room and figure out a way to blog or play WoW while riding the exercise bike or on the treadmill, then maybe getting in shape wouldn't be like pulling teeth.

Then again, IKEA has those great meatballs, and I LOVE meatballs.  If I go over here and buy it for $39.99, then I'll probably order some meatballs with it.  That kind of defeats the whole 'put the computer somewhere so I can get in shape while being a geek' plan.

I found this over at Neatorama, and it was just too awesome not to share.

Back in The Olden Days, when cartoons were actually good, both in quality of animation and quality of humor content, music, and stories told, ACME was the company to beat.  If you needed something, no matter how insane, you'd turn to your handy-dandy ACME catalogue and in 4-6 weeks you'd have your instant girl kit, your ultimatum dipatcher, or your toaster.  ACME truly was one stop shopping.

Before the days of the megastore, the megamall, and the Internet, you had to use mail order if you wanted something even slightly out of the ordinary for you convoluted plan to seduce and eat the Road Runner.  Nowadays, all it takes is one trip to Amazon.com, paying extra for good shipping, and whatever crazy product you might want will be at your doorstep in two days.  Really, in a way, Amazon and other big Internet retailers have turned the ACME catalogue from the fevered dream of a madman to a reality while crushing the old catalogue businesses.  That's a shame, in a way, when you think about how the Sears catalogue was around for over a hundred years. 

At least we still have our ACME catalogues.   

Boba Fett's Corvette, that is! Check out this awesome machinima video mashing up geeky white rapper mc chris (who has worked on many of the shows in Cartoon Network's Adult Swim lineup) and Star Wars Galaxies. mc chris raps extensively about geeky things, makes allusions to video games and Dungeons & Dragons, and is generally known to be a great guy who even takes fans from his shows to midnight movies of geeky fare like Transformers. Pretty cool, huh?

Here's the original version of the song with a pretty good accompanying video, for those who are no strangers to the occasional dirty word. I'm not crazy about the remix version that they used for this song, but I needed something relatively safe for work, despite the fact that this is a rap song and thus not safe for work at all.

These days, everything is about portability.  I've got USB storage on my keychain and around my neck.  I've got a laptop computer.  There are people I know who carry around smart phones that can check email, connect to the Internet, make phone calls (usually), and even make and store documents if you really need to write that Great American Novel while sitting in traffic.  There are shirts that find wireless internet connections for you, so why not further complete the cycle of unification between form and function by slapping a keyboard into the lap of your jeans (and a mouse in your back pocket)? 

That's right, the device no one ever asked for, keyboard pants, are a reality!  I just hope that, for people like myself who are very, ahem... non-graceful... that this particular keyboard is very well insulated.  Given its location and proximity to my future children, the last thing I need to do is knock over a Diet Coke and electrocute myself in a very important place.

There are so many awful comments/puns that I want to say but can't, because this is a family website!  You guys have no idea how tough it is not to make some of the jokes I want to make.  I better move on before I get myself in trouble.   

One of the most frightening, creepy, and outright good horror films ever made is the 1987 Clive Barker classic, Hellraiser.  In the movie, Lemarchand's puzzle box (also called the Lament Configuration) is an impeccably-made toy that, upon solving, opens a gateway to what is either hell or a hell-like dimension of pain, suffering, and general evil. 

Not coincidentally, the awesome mini-tower that is the Hell's Illusion PC is an impeccably-made gadget that, upon powering up, opens a gateway to the Internet, also a hell-like dimension of pain, suffering, LOLcats, and general evil.  Still, it's a very impressive case mod, and as I'm looking into buying a new computer here soon, I'll be looking for something like that to really make my desktop pop. 

However, I won't be picking up anything that opens gateways to hell, especially not if it's a puzzle.  I can't resist puzzles, and the last thing I want to do is get bored and end up with Cenobites swarming all over my house.  Nobody needs that.

I have a cardboard box full of Nintendo games from my old NES gaming system that I haven't been able to play since last century.  They're not all released on my Wii Virtual Console either, which is a crime because Caveman Games is awesome and everyone should play it, especially the wife-tossing event (If you pick the female Caveman Gamer, you can be the modern stone-age lesbian couple, way ahead of its time in 1988!).  I really want to play these games, but my NES has been broken for years now.  That's why I'm very interested in the FC Mobile. 

I'm not exactly crazy about the button positioning, and I'm not a fan of buying ANYTHING off eBay, but... it's really, really tempting.  Once I see some news about this thing from legitimate sources, I'll be more inclined to check it out.  One thing I don't see me doing is spending hard-earned money on an old NES.  You don't know if it works (even if it does, you'll still have to blow into the cartridges), it might cost a surprising amount of money... but man, do I want to play my NES games again!

Last week on Musical Monday, I featured the brilliant Jonathan Coulton and mentioned how he was included in the ending credits of the game Portal, as well as Rock Band.  Well his song from Portal's ending, Still Alive (click the link to enjoy the in-game version) has become a huge hit to the joy of geeks like myself.  Still, what's a way to make something already geeky geekier?  Use the beloved SNES game Mario Paint to do your own version of the Portal ending theme!

The more I hear by this guy, the more I like him. It gives me good memories of sitting around my college apartment, listening to my old roommate play the acoustic guitar and having adult beverages on the back porch.

As George Lucas' bank account could tell you, Star Wars fans are some of the most loyal fans of any science fiction film series in history.  While Star Trek has ebbed in popularity, Star Wars fans are still out there buying up video games, posters, tee-shirts, books, comics, and even better, Legos!  That's one of the reasons why, in honor of International Star Wars Day, I'm sharing with you the perfect marriage of two geek media, Lego Star Wars pens!

It's a shame these things weren't around in my younger days, as I would've been a huge fan.  I've got two different VHS boxed sets of Star Wars, though I've yet to buy them on DVD.  I'm waiting for the HD version to come out in the next 5 years or whenever George Lucas has the urge to build another mansion somewhere.  Still, it's to his credit that people love his product so much, and I know I'd buy those pens. 

To top off International Star Wars Day, here's the plot of the first Star Wars film as explained by a 3-year-old girl.

HT:  Coolbuzz

Sunday, May 4, is the holiday known as International Star Wars Day.  When you've not only got your own day, but you've got a day that is celebrated internationally, you know you've really got something special on your hands.  If you don't love Star Wars, there's probably something wrong with you, like you're a dirty stinking Trekkie! 

Okay, I'm not here to pick geek fights with 30somethings who live in their parents basements, I'm here to talk about Star Wars Day and specifically, some free swag for Star Wars Day.  Specifically, a free downloadable copy of Star Wars Legacy of the Force:  Betrayal from Deep Discount.  I haven't read the book, or any of the others in the Legacy of the Force series, but when I was in high school I read EVERY Star Wars novel I could get my hands on.  College kind of ruined that, but I'm trying to get back into reading again. 

To celebrate Star Wars, here's everyone's favorite defender of humanity, the Star Wars Kid!

Gadget Grid passes along one of the coolest pool accessories I've ever laid eyes on with this, their Underwater Light Show Fountain.  If you're wanting to make your pool cooler, and you have four spare D-cell batteries, then this is your answer.  The underwater portion of your pool turns random, beautiful colors, while the top of your pool is prettified with a neat little light-up fountain display. 

One of the things I liked most when I had a pool in my back yard was getting up in the morning, going out to sit on the deck, and just watch the rising sun reflect off the calm waters.  Of course, the sunset ws nice too, but since it was an above-ground pool, it wasn't very much fun after dark when you couldn't see anything and were likely bug bait.  That's why something like that fountain would've come in very handy.  It's both beautiful and functional, keeping the water circulating while adding beauty to an already relaxing setting.