How to make real ice cream without an ice cream machine

There's no other way to make ice cream at home without using an ice cream machine? Think again. Thanks to The Food Lab, now we know how to make an ice cream that's rich, smooth and creamy on the spoon with no faking, no hacking, and no ice cream machine! Recipe here. I want to try this over the weekend!

Finger Condoms are great for a lot of things

Tokyomango spotted these Finger Condoms. She says, "The packaging promises that they will safely protect your fingers during household chores, office work, and other activities." Other activities? Erm, like fingering? No, not this fingering.

Recreate your favourite shoes in Play-Doh

Play-Doh Kicks is a fun contest. Your task is to recreate or reinterpret your favorite pair of shoes in play-doh, in one hour or less. Models must be made completely of play-doh, but can be tooled with anything you've got on hand, from exacto-blades to butter knives.

(via Boing Boing)

Star Wars Wampa Birthday Cake

Check out Alicia's Empire Strikes Back themed cake for her 30th birthday. She writes: "Made with my mom’s classic sour cream pound cake recipe shaped into an Alicia style Wampa, buttercream icing, and one very forgiving decorating style." Wampas are fictional Yeti-like predators in the Star Wars movies.

The Mecha Art of Naochika Morishita

Hagane Bito is an art book featuring the illustrations of Naochika Morishita, a Japanese artist that does a lot of work featuring anime robots. Gundam and Votoms take up almost half of the 130-page art book. A book review and more pics here.

Watch auroras live from the comfort of your computer screen

AuroraMAX is streaming Canada's northern lights live over the Internet. Also known as auroras, they are one of nature's most spectacular sights and they occur when charged particles from the Sun collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere. The camera is currently off. Live feed will start after dusk Canadian time.

Johnny Rockets Jukebox playlist is the best thing you will listen to today

Heesa posts the entire playlist of the jukebox found in Johnny Rockets, a popular American restaurant: "I have always wanted a playlist of their jukebox music. I searched and couldn’t find a good list so I sat down at the counter with a pad of paper and pen and wrote down everything they had in there." It's amazing how many of these songs I can sing to. Guess I'm old.

Hot and Cold by Katy Perry and Elmo

Elmo and Katy Perry (with boobies) sing about opposites in Hot and Cold, a spoof of her hit song as part of Sesame Street's 41st season. I tell you what, they should make Katy Perry appear in every Sesame Street show from now on!

Giant animals invade Japanese cityscapes

I love these paintings by Shuichi Nakano. Called Searching for Paradise, the paintings depict giant sized sheep, ostriches, fish, hippos and other animals towering over the urban sprawl of Japan. Don't ask me how the animals got so big!

Japanese Batman mineral water bottle doesn't come with Batman head

Tommy spotted this made in Japan Batman-shaped mineral water bottle. He says, "I think it's really neat but I wish they would have made a Batman head for the bottle... that would have been better & would have completed his costume, ha!"

The Nairobi Project

Steve Gladlin writes about The Nairobi Project: "In December of 2009, I received an email from someone in Nairobi, Kenya, asking if I'd buy one of his plays for $25,000 USD. The email exchange that followed culminated in me commissioning an original play, written to my specifications, for $50."

The Very Many Varieties of Beer

How many different types of beer are there? Well, plenty and Pop Chart Lab has them all on The Very Many Varieties of Beer poster. All the major styles of beer can be found on the poster with representative quaffs for each style. Here's a bigger image of the poster.

NASA Desert RATS on Flickr

Check out NASA's Flickr photoset collection of their 2010 Desert Research and Technology Studies tests conducted at the Black Point Lava Flow. The location was chosen because it is geologically similar to the lunar surface and offers a good stand-in for destinations for future planetary exploration missions.

Space Invaders Lamp Shade

This Space Invaders lamp shade is a perfect addition to the homes of retro game geeks. Made of wire and fabric, it is handcrafted and measures 25 cm X 25 cm x 25cm. On each side of the shade, there are four different Space Invaders!

(Thanks GeekGod)

Star Trek Urn will go boldy where no dead man has gone before

Captain James T Kirk once said in Star Trek: "How we deal with death is at least as important as how we deal with life." So to make your death as important, how about buying one of these Star Trek urns? Comes with solid bronze medallions that can be affixed to a headstone or monument.

(Thanks Nic)

Alphabets autopsy reveals they are living organisms

Andreas Scheiger writes about his Evolution of Type Exhibits: "Letters are organisms and typefaces are the species, all classified similar to biological taxonomy! I surgically opened the letters S, Z, S, A, W and how contented I was to discover muscles, veins, tendons and bone just like the ones shared by so many living creatures." Making Of pics here.

Plants vs Zombies Clay Statues

Electric Hydra has a nice surprise when he received Plants vs. Zombies GOTY edition, which is a special version of the game together with these set of clay statues made by Sam “Moose” Gueydan, a clay crafter. Sam made 900 individual clay statues for PopCap Games, the makers of Plants vs. Zombies.

Be an Optimist Prime because Autobots rock!

I have no idea who drew this but I love it! Remember kids, be an Optimist Prime, not a Negatron!

(Thanks Michael L)

Update: Alexis informs me that this drawing was done by Mister Avid. (Thanks Alexis)

Girl on a Whaleship

In October, 1868, Laura Jernegan, a 6 year old girl from Edgartown, Massachusetts set out on a three year whaling voyage with her father, mother, brother and the ship's crew to the whaling grounds of the Pacific Ocean. You can now read the journal she kept on her voyage.

(Thanks Victor)

Water powered watch doesn't need batteries

The Water Powered Wrist Watch is entirely powered by water! The water functions as an electrolyte between the copper and magnesium, that is mounted inside the watch's tiny water tank. When in contact with water, the magnesium and copper will release + ions in a chemical reaction. These are converted into electric energy to power the watch.

How to build a Dalek

You do not need to be a professional to build a Dalek, the fictional extraterrestrial race of mutants from the British science fiction television series Doctor Who. But you will need some basic skills, common sense and the following scans of How To Build A Dalek. Good luck.

(Thanks Sir Thomas)

R2-D2 Video Game Droid is something Luke Skywalker wished he had

Brian, a mechanical engineering grad student from UCLA uses an old R2-D2 shaped Pepsi container to make the ultimate all in one entertainment system. His R2-D2 Video Game Droid has eleven video game consoles, a computer, a sound system with eight speakers, and even a projector! More pics here.

Really cheap iPad wall mount

Tumbleweed uses a heavy-duty plate hanger to make this easy wall mount for his iPad. He writes: "The hanger fits my iPad and Apple-branded case nicely. Some work could be done to bend the hooks to an exact fit, but I found that to be unnecessary."

12 Chinese Zodiac Animal Lantern Sculptures

Head down to Central's Autumn Festival by the River and you'll find these gigantic lantern sculptures of all the 12 animals representing the 12 Chinese zodiac signs. I didn't have my SLR with me so I had to use my iPhone to snap these photos.



1) Goat



2) Dog



3) Dragon



4) Horse



5) Monkey



6) Rat



7) Ox



8) Rabbit



9) Pig



10) Snake



11) Tiger



12) Rooster

CarLashes are eyelashes for your car headlights

If you think you car needs a bit more life, why not give it CarLashes? The CarLashes attach above your car headlines with the help of 3M double sided automotive trim tape to give your car a pair of pretty eyelashes. The company that makes them also sell crystal eyeliners for your car!

(Thanks Jim)

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Lego Chess Set

Brandon writes about his cool Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back Lego Chess: "It is the second in a series of three LEGO chess sets that I am building in celebration of the Original Star Wars Trilogy. I started building it not to long after the completion of the first chess set and worked on it through out 2010."

Cardboard Cameras look like the real thing but can't take photos

Kiel Johnson's cardboard cameras are amazing! Those are all made of cardboard alright. So far he has made SLRs, Point & Shoots, 8mms and even a Twin Lens! It's a pity they aren't functioning cameras.

(Thanks Hirarin)

Visiting the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games

Connal Hughes and his wife Anjel recently visited the Museum of Soviet Arcade Games located in the basement of a small university in Moscow. He writes: "The entrance fee was 300 rubles and was 100% worth it – especially considering that the guys that run the museum have put countless hours into getting these machine up and running again."

Google's World is not real, thank god!

Imagine that Google Maps are real. Alejo Malia did just that with a series of illustrations in which all the elements of Google Maps are represented in an alternate world. Titled Google's World, Alejo included Google Maps' place markers, public transit symbols and the yellow street view guy in his illustrations.

China man dresses up as a pig, demos pig slaugther

On China's Got Talent, a loving husband begs judges to let his wife sing after he embarrassed himself on national TV by pretending to be a pig. Oh well, at least his wife can sing.

Art of Akira

Joe has a Flickr photoset of cels, background and artwork that was on display at the Art of Akira Exhibit. Akira is a black and white serial manga set in a post-apocalyptic Neo-Tokyo. Written by Katsuhiro Otomo, the manga was made into an anime action film in 1988.

(Thanks Lord Kimbo)

Likea looks like Leica but is a pinhole camera

The Likea MPH is a pinhole homage to the most iconic photographic tool of a century. It has no battery, no light meter, no mechanical shutter, no embellishment and shoots on 35mm film. You have to assembled it yourself - lotsa gluing and taping!

(Thanks S Koh)

Cute Star Wars Illustrations by Chris Bishop

Check out Chris Bishop's illustration for Longshot Magazine, The Jedi Comeback: An evaluation of character triumph from Empire Strikes Back to Return of the Jedi and The Baddest Bounty Hunters in the Galaxy. I want to see more, Chris!

(Thanks Razif)

600 Hanna-Barbera Characters

Juan Pablo Bravo's infographic of 600 Hanna-Barbera Characters is incredible! The characters are shown in chronological order with their respective names in English and Spanish. Image sizes of the characters are not to scale.

1970's Skateboarding Trading Card Stickers

Skate and Annoy has a gallery of skateboarding trading card stickers from the 1970's. He writes: "From the looks of it, there were a lot of gypsy skaters in the 70's. The artwork is comic book influenced to be sure. The artist was probably not a skater."

Super Mario Brothers Mural

To advertise their inaugural Town Hall meeting, 12 students from Columbus College of Art & Design School decided to create a Super Mario Bros themed mural. Measuring 16 feet tall and 38 feet wide, the mural took 8 days to paint. I bet it's now a favourite with photowhores in the school.

Miss China Universe 2010 speaks very powerful English

If you think our very own Ris Low is bad, wait till you see this beauty contestant. Say hi to Tang Wen, the Miss Universe 2010 contestant from China.

BottleBank is a photographic archive of Coca-Cola bottles

Dude has a massive Coca-Cola collection. He writes: "I have been collecting all kinds of Coca-Cola cans, bottles since 1987. Since then, I have collected over 500 different bottles and 1000 different cans. For the first five years that I collected Coca-Cola items, all of my friends laughed at me, for the past five years, I have been laughing at them."

Comex 2010 Price Lists and Brochures

Comex, Singapore's biggest IT and consumer technology show, is now on at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre. Before you head down this weekend, check out the Comex 2010 Price Lists and Brochures uploaded by those nice folks at Bootstrike. I was at Comex yesterday but didn't buy anything. A word of advice: It's freaking crowded!

Start your own army with Walkerloo Paper Toy Soldiers

The Walkerloo paper toy soldiers are at war with all movie and TV related plastic toys. The giant toy corporations have held the imagination of children captive for too long. It is time to fight to set it free. Download, print and make your own army and join the war today!

Ultraman Monsters unite in 2 action packed 1979 paintings

Toshio Okazaki painted a pair of action-packed Ultraman Monsters paintings for Shōgakukan's 1979 edition of Ultra Kaiju. Here's a close up of some of those bad ass monsters, Alien Icarus, Gomora, Muruchi, Alien Baltan, Alien Magma and Kemular. And if you're interested, here's a list of monsters from all Ultraman series.

Hello Kitty has her own Monopoly board game!

Hello Kitty Monopoly stars Hello Kitty and friends. The game is full of Hello Kitty cuteness and features 22 properties from Hello Kitty's hometown of London. Instead of the old stand-by tokens you'll have your choice of Milk Bottle, Fish Bowl, Lunch Box, Bow, Teddy or Apples.