Just in: The new Monopoly Deal Card Game and Risk Reinvention

Look what I received today from the courier guy! Let's take a peep inside the bag.





It's the new Monopoly Deal Card Game and Risk Reinvention! Wait a minute. A Monopoly card game? Yes. It's their first foray into the card game market. It’s all the best bits of Monopoly in 20 minutes but emphasizes on-the-fly real estate negotiations in game play.

Risk Reinvention meanwhile is a redesigned version of the popular board game. It has a new look and modernized rules which allow players to streamline planning and executing strategic military campaigns, reducing average playing time to a fast and furious 90 minutes.

Looks like these two will keep me well occupied during the long May Day weekend. Many, many thanks Hasbro!

The most ridiculous fight scene ever filmed

From the 1988 flick Undefeatable, comes this 3 minute long fight scene (video above) complete with knife licking, shirt tearing, face grabbing, non-stop yelling and screaming, gratuitous shirtlessness, and the best part is the girl with a broken arm who comes out of nowhere to save the day.

Massive video games sale on eBay

Retro Boy G is selling his massive collection of Sega, Nintendo, SNK and Sony video games and merchandise on eBay. He says: "This could possibly be one of the biggest arcade/console sales eBay has seen for a long time in the UK so I thought I'd make it one to remember!" There are more than 1000 pictures of his collection on his eBay page.

Dude says "I Quit" with a Super Mario game

Here's a really cool way to say goodbye to your colleagues. Dude who is a game designer at 2k Australia, created a Super Mario game and sent it around his office to let everyone know that he has quit the company.

The origin of Superman

Superman Origin Comics by Jay Pinkerton and Peter Lynn will tell you the story of how Superman began. Really epic story beginning with Superman's dad Jor-El, a small-time scientist in Krypton who's ridiculed by his peers.

(Thanks DC)

Business cards made from meat and lasers

The folks from Meat Cards will sear your contact information into their 100% beef jerky "cards" with laser: "Unlike other business cards, Meat Cards will retain value after the econopocalypse. Hoard and barter your calorie-rich, life-sustaining cards."

Lightsaber Battle in New York

On Saturday, 3000 blacklight-reactive, meter-long cardboard tubes were distributed in Teen Plaza in New York for a massive glowing lightsaber battle. The battle continued until every tube was destroyed. Photos of the action here, here and here. Let's have one here in Singapore, please.

Abandoned Wolverine movie set found in Sydney

If you’re in Sydney, take a ferry from Circular Quay to Cockatoo Island and explore an abandoned movie set which was built in a shipyard for filming a scene in the new X-Men movie, Wolverine. Yup, it's the scene where Wolverine crashes out the top window and releases all the mutants from their cages.

How to make a high-speed book scanner from trash and cheap cameras

Daniel says, "Digital books change the landscape. After suffering through scanning many of my old, rare, and government issue books, I decided to create a book scanner that anybody could make, for around $300." Instructions to build a book scanner like Daniel's here.

Dude's Flickr photostream is awesome!

Peter Norby, a candid portrait and event photographer, probably has the coolest Flickr photostream ever! He has found an ingenious way to do a mosaic made up of different photos that he uploaded to his Flickr. Isn't it amazing? Screenshot of his Flickr photostream here in case it changes.

(Thanks vito)

Disney attemps a female anime robot, fails to excite otakus

To crack the Japanese anime market, Disney teamed up with Jinni Studio to produce a show called Fireball featuring a mech-girl named Drossel with long twin pony tails, slender robotic figure and large eyes. Despite all the efforts, Fireball will not be appearing for a second season. Nice try, Disney.

8-bit Black Mage PC Mod

Dude who probably is a crazy Final Fantasy fan, took four months to build a PC case dedicated to Black Mage, his favourite character from the game. To create the 8-bit look of his Black Mage PC, he organized, glued, and painted more than 2,000 1 inch wooden cubes. More photos here.

Marvel Star Wars Comic Book Covers

Geek Orthodox has 11 fantastic Marvel Star Wars comic book covers. The Marvel Star Wars series of comic books was the first ever comic series created for the saga. Published by Marvel Comics, it was a smash hit, spanning 107 issues lasting from 1977 to 1986.

(via Nerdcore)

Is this the best TV game show on Earth guys?

Watch this clip (video above) of a Japanese game that proves to us yet again that Japan is the King when it comes to offbeat games. Here's the rule. If you stop before your face hits her boobies, you win. If not, you'll get electrocuted. I think lots of guys would rather lose than win this game.

Handheld DJ System lets anyone be a DJ on the go

The Pacemaker Handheld DJ System is like having two-turntables in the palm of your hand. Thanks to its sophisticated computer software, the Pacemaker analyzes the beats per minute of any songs you store in its internal 120GB disk. You can effortlessly beatmatch any two tracks with zero skill needed.

Desktop Mini Wooden Soccer Game

Now you can enjoy a game foosball (table football) on your desk at work or home! The desktop mini soccer game is made of wood and it's small enough unlike its bigger table football game cousins that you don't need a room to store it. Comes with two metal balls with small bag. I want this!

How to make circuitry snacks

You can make delicious edible models of functioning electronic circuits using common snacks found in the supermarket like Kit Kat, Twix, marshmallows and pretzel sticks. The circuitry snacks make great desserts and they are also perfect for teaching and learning electronics.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

Earphones influenced by zippers

Radhika says, "Your trouser fly just influenced my friend Ji. Quit smirking, coz his YI earphones concept will take care of a lot of wire-tangle-hassles in the future. If pants can have a zipper to hold in the essentials then why the idea can’t be used on earphones to manage them when not in use!"

All American Space Fleet

Here's a set of 24 American Space Fleet cards made in the 1950s by oil company Skelly. The cards show the spaceships and characters of the All American Space Fleet. Each card also comes with a helpful tip for kids such as "never talk to a stranger in a public place".

(Thanks afie18)

Kawaii Japanese Stationery

Sofia Molnar collects cute Japanese supplies and handmade crafts and sells them on her Etsy store. On her Flickr, you can view lots of her stuff. I especially love her collection of memo pads, letter sets, pencils, etc. So kawaii!

Marvel streams Japanese Spiderman

In 1978, Marvel signed a deal with Toei which allowed the Japanese firm to use Spiderman in a new TV series which has a storyline that has nothing to do with the original Marvel character. You can now watch the episodes of the Japanese Spiderman online. There's a new episode every Thursday! Here's episode 1.

Washable keyboard is even dishwasher safe

This washable keyboard comes protected with Silver Seal making it spill proof, fully washable and keeps away the bad microbes. You can even put it in the dishwasher for easy cleaning! It is really that waterproof.

When it's too hot in Singapore, just do a rain dance

It worked! Looks like all the dancing in the nude has paid off and the rain gods are now very happy. As you can tell, it's raining cats and dogs now in Singapore. See! The things I do for the benefit of my fellow Singaporeans. No, it's ok. Don't have to thank me, really. Just enjoy the rain, Singapore! Now, where the hell did I leave my clothes?

How to make a baby

Cassidy says, "Take two people, add a little hot air, and boom! That's all there is to it! Captured over a period of nine months in our home in San Francisco." Video above. Here's how he did it.

Exposed: Singapore Sakae Sushi Prankster

Dude thought it's funny to do such a silly thing while eating at Sakae Sushi with his friends so he took a video of the entire thing and then he later posted it to YouTube. The original video has been taken down but you can still watch a copy above. What he didn't expect is that his prank would incur the wrath of others and worse, he would be exposed by the Eat-Drink-Man-Woman forumers at Hardware Zone.

Update: Dude is on the Chinese papers. Congrats! (Thanks Mr Big)

Talented HK illustrator Carrie Chau is cute, thinks she was an alien

I'm glad I found this interview of HK illustrator Carrie Chau. I love Carrie's work and she's cute! Her previous exhibition Indigo Child is related to aliens. Not surprising because she thinks that she's an alien from another planet in her past life. Really! Check out her work here and some of the cool stuff that's for sale in her online shop.

Dude shows off his insane collection of Star Wars toys

Rob has assembled a collection of Star Wars toys so insanely huge that he is asking others if he missed out on any. He says, "I'm at a point where I have pretty much every figure that I know of. I'm looking for significant paint variations, and kit-bashes or sculpting changes that I'm missing. I know it's a needle in a haystack, but if you can spot anything that you know of that I'm missing, please let me know!" I hate you Rob!

Make your own paper toys with Paper Critters

For his final project at the Academy of Art University, JR Fabito created a really cool online application called Paper Critters which allow anyone to create and share digital paper toys. Once you're done with designing one, you can print it, cut it out and then put it together. But if you're too lazy, just browse the colony for more than 40,000 paper toys created using the site.

The Smithsonian celebrates Women in Science

The Smithsonian's Women in Science Flickr photoset contains images documenting women scientists and engineers from around the world. These women were pioneers in their respective fields or were the first women to receive advanced graduate degrees in their discipline.

Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention returns in August 2009!

I had a blast covering the first ever Singapore Toy & Comic Convention last year. Yesterday, the folks from PI Events held a press conference at The Butter Factory to announce that the Singapore Toy, Games & Comic Convention (STGCC) will be returning this year!

A pop-culture fest of toys, comics, gaming and animation, STGCC 2009 will be held from 14-16 August 2009 at Suntec Halls 401 and 402. It will take up almost double the hall space it took last year and it will be extended to 3 days! Last year's convention was only 2 days.



During the press conference, it was also announced that Blythe, Dollz Inc., Hasbro, LEGO, MINDstyle, Nanospore, Nintendo, Upper Deck, Simply Toys, tokidoki, Ugly Dolls and Wizards of the Coast will be among the key exhibitors. Event highlights this year include the Artist Alley, an artist graffiti wall, autograph signings, convention giveaways, a Cosplay Competition, live art demonstrations, Online Art Auction, Playworks Ultimate PLAY Babes Competition, Singapore Polytechnic Toy Design Competition 2009, Star Wars appearances, stunt shows and costume appearances, and the Walk of Fame featuring internationally renowned artists.



More photos of the press conference in this Flickr photoset here including pics of Iron Man, Rios and Salem from Army of 2, Snake Eyes, a Japanese schoolgirl, Inayusha High Priestess, Go-Go Yubari, the Predator, and a whole bunch of Stormtroopers.

Star Wars R2-D2 Tissue Cover

Now you can sneeze in Star Wars style thanks to the Star Wars R2-D2 Tissue Cover. It protects and serves you tissue paper. So cute, I want one! Tissue paper not included.

(Thanks GeekGod)

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles turn 25, party on top of Empire State Building

Remember the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? The lovable turtles have just turned 25. And to celebrate their quarter of a century anniversary, they appeared on top of the Empire State Building! Photos from the 30 minute promo event here and here.

Photos from the World Sand Sculpture Festival 2009

Here are some photos taken at the World Sand Sculpture Festival 2009, held at the Tottori Sand Dunes in Japan's Tottori prefecture. World-class sculptors from 10 nations were invited to create massive sand sculptures based on the theme “fairy tales and legends”.

James Kuhn completes his 365 days face art challenge

I've blogged about James Kuhn and his amazing face paintings before. Here's how he looked like under the face paint. I found out today that James has successfully completed his 365 days face art challenge. Congrats James! Check out his blog if you want to read about each face painting in detail.

Previously: Face paintings by James Kuhn

A tribute to the bimbos of Channel 5's S Factor

A tribute video to some of the "brightest and most original girls" ever known to the sunny island of Singapore. I think it best describes what the S Factor is really about. Or should they just call it Slut Factor? For those of you who haven't watched S Factor, don't bother. It has to be the worst local TV show ever made. Oh wait, maybe not. That honour goes to Xiaxue's Girls Out Loud. Heh.

Spiderman visits students at NUS central library

PalmLine says, "Was mugging in school during study week as usual and this happened at around 1.30 am. Is this a NUSSU (student union) 'event' or is it some idiot trying to play the fool or is it really Spidey? Whatever it is, it was cool to relieve some of the stress from us muggers." Video above. Nice but I was expecting Spidey to do something more impressive like shooting web from his wrists or climbing the wall instead of running around the library like a mad man.

(Thanks Mr Big)

Recycle your reading at the Public Libraries' first ever Book Exchange!

Tomorrow, head down to The Plaza, National Library Building to exchange your used books for new reads. From NLB:

From 11 to 24 April 2009, 11am to 8pm, the public can drop off their used books at any Public Library in return for book exchange coupons, which will indicate a one-for-one exchange. The books accepted for participation are children's and adults' fiction and non-fiction books in any of the four official languages. These exclude textbooks, magazines and audio-visual items. The public can bring their book exchange coupons on 25 April to the Book Exchange to redeem used books dropped off by other book lovers. Each person can exchange up to a maximum of 30 used books at the event, which will be held at The Plaza, National Library Building, from 10.30am to 6pm.

More info here.

AWARE and the art of hijacking associations and societies in Singapore

Everyone is aware about AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research) nowadays. Everyone is talking about it - uncles, aunties, the young and the old. Membership has grown. I have no idea what they really do - most of my female mates have no clue either - but since everyone is joining, I was thinking maybe I should join AWARE too. The question is should I sign up as IZabella or IZ? Someone tells me IZabella has voting rights, IZ no. Tough one, this.

You see, ever since the news broke that AWARE has been taken over by a group of newcomers, hijacking associations and societies in Singapore has become an art. You've got to applaud how these women did it in a stealthy manner. First, get lots of new members to join the association months before the Annual General Meeting. Plan, plan and plan how to take everyone by surprise during the AGM. During the AGM, make sure you have a majority support by bringing along all your new members, overwhelm the old guard and challenge every goddamn position available. Once you've taken over the leadership, next step is terminate all the current heads of the sub-committees, then sit back, relax and enjoy your new rule.

Sounds easy? Remember you need to be really well-organised and the plan has to be well-orchestrated. So are you guys and gals game enough for some hijacking now? Ok. Which society should we hijack first? Hmmm.

Update:
New AWARE exco's press conference yesterday
More drama at AWARE's office
Leaked emails show AWARE's takeover is planned

Your portrait drawn by Michel Gondry

For US$19.95, French director Michel Gondry will personally sketch and sign your portrait based on the photo that you submit via email. Michel won an Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay in 2005 for the movie Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, also directed by him.

Put some spaghetti into your hot dogs

Russian guy on the latest food craze in Russia, dry spaghetti in hotdogs: "We tentatively call 'hot dogs strikes back'. It is primarily made by inserting dried spaghetti into the hot dogs and then boiling the resulting concoctions." Why didn't I think of that?!

(via Nerdcore)

Star Wars C3-PO Papercraft

Some dude made this amazing papercraft of everybody's favourite droid from the Star Wars movies, C3-PO. Included are the instructions (sample only) which look like this is meant only for those with nimble fingers and a lot of time.

(Thanks Jim)

Bananaz: A Documentary about Gorillaz

Go watch Bananaz, a documentary film about the animated music group Gorillaz. Filmed by director Ceri Levy during a period of 6 years, Bananaz follows the creators, artist Jamie Hewlett and musician Damon Albarn behind the scenes, from the first drawings, animations, music and the musicians, through to the faces behind the voices of the band's animated members, Murdoc, 2D, Noodle and Russel Hobbs.

Mebius is Sharp's new Notebook PC with Optical Sensor LCD Pad

Sharp's new line of notebook PCs called Mebius is the world's first to employ an optical sensor LCD for the touchpad. Watch the video above. The 4-inch optical sensor LCD pad on the Mebius looks like a conventional track pad but it allows pen-based input of drawings and text, as well as multiple-finger-touch operation (gestures) to enlarge, shrink, or rotate items on the screen, in addition to conventional mouse operation.

The screen background and menu icons of the optical sensor LCD pad can be customized. Sharp also includes proprietary software into the Mebius so that users can enjoy e-books and games with pen and finger-touch operation.

The Mebius comes in black or white, runs Windows Vista and is powered by 1.6 GHz Intel Atom processor N270. It has 1 GB standard SDRAM, 160 GB hard disk, 10.1-inch Wide Pure Clean LCD, a webcam, a built-in chip set with High Definition Audio Codec, built-in stereo speakers and monaural microphone, and SD, SDHC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and xD-Picture card slots. It weighs around 1.46 kg.

Mythbusters build giant Lego ball

For the upcoming Mythbusters YouTube Special that will air on April 29th, Tory, Kari and Grant together with an army of volunteers spent two weeks building a giant Lego ball using a million Lego pieces. Video preview above. Their aim is to find out if this popular YouTube video - featuring a guy in an Indiana Jones costume running away from a giant Lego ball - is really real. I can't wait to watch the whole episode when it airs on Discovery. I love Mythbusters! Oh, and Kari is cute!

Bandai makes toy slide that makes delicious noodles

Leave it to the Japanese to mix play and food together. The very fun looking somen-making toy slide by Bandai will surely make your dinners more enjoyable. Thin somen noodles come out of a little house at the top of the slide and end up in a strainer at the bottom. I want one!

(via Gizmodo)

Lego MP3 Player

Made by Digital Blue, this MP3 player looks like it's made from actual Lego bricks. The Lego MP3 player has 8 hours of playtime and can play up to 1000 songs thanks to its 2GB internal memory. It is even compatible with other Legos! Just mount the Lego bricks on its top or bottom. Digital Blue also has other Lego inspired products such as a boombox and a digital camera.

Star Wars AT-AT Anatomy T-Shirt

I'm digging the cool t-shirts designed by rubyred, a UK graphic designer. His AT-AT Anatomy T-shirt is my favourite: "Since the Dark Side started using genetically modified walkers, they found many had to visit the Imperial Veterinary Clinic of Osteology suffering with acute pain in their hip joints. X-rays revealed their skeleton structure was just not strong enough to manoeuvre wearing those heavy boots."

Free Cone Day 2009!

Today is Ben & Jerry's Free Cone Day! From 12pm - 7pm, just visit any participating Ben & Jerry's outlet in Singapore (United Square, The Cathay, Singapore Zoo, Jurong Bird Park, Raffles City or VivoCity) to get your free scoop of delicious Ben & Jerry's ice cream. Yummy! Oh, Free Cone Day is also celebrated worldwide today. For those in the US, find your scoop shop here.

(Thanks Michelle Lim)

Sita Sings the Blues

Watch Sita Sings the Blues (video above), a delightful 1 hour and 20 minutes animated interpretation of the Indian epic Ramayana. Synopsis: Sita is a goddess separated from her beloved Lord and husband Rama. Nina is an animator whose husband moves to India, then dumps her by e-mail. Three hilarious shadow puppets narrate both ancient tragedy and modern comedy. Set to the 1920’s jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw, Sita Sings the Blues earns its tagline as “The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told.”

The director of Sita Sings the Blues, US cartoonist and artist Nina Paley says, "I hereby give Sita Sings the Blues to you. Like all culture, it belongs to you already, but I am making it explicit with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. Please distribute, copy, share, archive, and show Sita Sings the Blues. From the shared culture it came, and back into the shared culture it goes."

(via A Nutsell Review)

Photos of 1937 Sea Monster Hoax

In the summer of 1937, American puppeteer and designer Tony Sarg and several others promoted a hoax about a sea serpent. They advertised the sightings of a sea serpent in papers and even created footprints. Flickr photoset of the sea serpent hoax here.

(via Mark Allen)

Pac-Man Oven Mitt

The Pac-Man Oven Mitt is made of pure silicone rubber and can resist temperatures up to 204.44 degrees Celsius, perfect for chomping up your hot pots and pans! Oh, and it can also doubled up as a puppet to scare away ghosts.

Compact Kitchen exists in your wall!

I bet you have never seen a kitchen like this one. This made in Germany, Compact Kitchen is entirely flushed into your wall. Just touch the various outlines on the wall, and your kitchen will amazingly pop out. Once you finished cooking, the kitchen can be converted to a dining area!

Collection of horror and science fiction promoter Forrest Ackerman up for auction

Soon you can own one of the single most important weapons in sci-fi history, the hero firing blaster used by Harrison Ford in Blade Runner! Profiles in History will be running an auction of Hollywood memorabilia owned by the late Forrest J Ackerman aka Mr Science Fiction. The first 400 or so lots are all boring portraits but after that is a treasure trove of props from science fiction and horror movies!

Russian Camaro Mod will give Bumblebee a run for its money

Some Russian folks have welded a bunch of metal into an old Chevy Camaro, the car made famous by Bumblebee from the Transformers movie. Their Camaro mod which looks like it's heavily influenced by Mad Max, also comes with bad-ass rockets and guns.

Susan Boyle can really sing but needs to wear a bra during photoshoots

The new singing sensation from Britain's Got Talent, Susan Boyle sure has amazing pipes alright. She has proven that with her rendition of I Dreamed a Dream (video above) on Britain's Got Talent. Heck, she also proves that she's not just a one hit wonder with this 1999 recording of Cry Me A River which she made for a charity CD. For someone who's not been blessed by good looks (sorry, she looks like a messed up Jack Black trying to cross dress), amazingly she does have one of the most beautiful voices that I've ever heard. Never judge a book by its cover, IZ! Ok. Ok. But I think someone seriously needs to tell her that she has to put on a bra when she does her photoshoots. Really Susan. Get a bra, please! And hire a new fashion adviser while you're at it.

Guy builds giant beetle robot because he wants to be a mack daddy

Japanese dude takes 11 years to build a giant beetle robot in his garage! The robot is 11 meters long and weighs 15 tons, and can be remote controlled or piloted from the cockpit. After watching the video (above), I was thinking maybe he could have spent those 11 years building a Gundam instead. Now that would make him the daddy of all mack daddies.

(via Mefi)

Pirate Bay says F-you! You won't stop us!

You've got to hand it to the founders of The Pirate Bay. Many in their shoes would have cried for their papas and mamas and peed in their pants when faced with having to pay US$3 million and having to spend 1 year in the cell, but The Pirate Bay folks don't seem to be too worried at all. In fact, they vow to keep their website open for business. Watch Peter Sunde of The Pirate Bay in this press conference (Part 1 above, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4) held after the verdict was given. "We can't pay and we wouldn't pay. Even if I had the money I would rather burn everything I owned, and I wouldn't even give them the ashes," he said.

When Pac-Man invades the supermarket

Rémi Gaillard makes dangerously funny videos for a French hidden camera show which differs from most other shows in the aspect that his gags are surreal and very visual. For his latest stunt, he and his crew dress up as Pac-Man and Ghosts and invade a supermarket, a golf course and a pool bar. Watch the video above.

Jason Freeny's Anatomy Illustrations

Former MTV designer Jason Freeny, has created really cool anatomy illustrations of a gummy bear, a Lego man, a blow-up balloon dog and more! Just head over to his flash website and click digital to view all his wacky creations.

How to make Totoro cream puffs

Step by step instructions and recipe to make about 18 3-inch Totoro puffs or 12 3-inch Totoro and 8 smaller Totoro puffs by the excellent Anna The Red. Photoset here.

(via BoingBoing)