weekends

It's been just three days since Apple's iPhone 5 launch in China and already 2 million devices have already been sold. The tech giant announced today that this latest model of its popular smartphone is selling faster than ever in the Far East country.

"Customer response to iPhone 5 in China has been incredible, setting a new record with the best first weekend sales ever in China," Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a statement. "China is a very important market for us and customers there cannot wait to get their hands on Apple products.&… Read more

For Bryan Duxbury and Adam Ellsworth, a shared interest in DIY Arduino projects and a conversation at a Christmas party led to a pretty bright idea and an unexpected side business.

The two San Francisco residents are the creators of the Interactive 8bit Question Block lamp--a Super Mario Bros.-inspired piece of home decor. For fans of the game, the lamp should instantly look familiar, as it resembles the blocks that Mario hits to earn coins and other loot. The design alone already makes it pretty cool, but that's not where the fun ends.

To turn the light on or off, you must punch (actually, a gentle tap is enough and recommended) the bottom of the block, and every time you do so, it makes a coin sound just like in the video game. On every eighth tap, you're rewarded with the 1-Up sound. It's a piece of Super Mario Bros. come to life.

This project may never have seen the light of day, however, had it not been for a chance meeting at a company Christmas party. … Read more

What's cute and fuzzy and ready to defend your precious flowers to the last petal? Why, an Ewok Village flower vase, of course.

For barely $10, supplies from your local arts and crafts supplies store and your own backyard or neighborhood park can help you show off your Star Wars street cred. In the final installment of our Crave series based on projects from Bonnie Burton's "The Star Wars Craft Book," a crack team of crafters fights for what's right by turning a common glass jar and some twigs into an Ewok village flower vase. … Read more

How's this for an inspiring DIY project: three generations of a family whipping out the tools and working together to save a vintage car from the scrap heap.

That's essentially what's come about since CNET's own Jared Kohler bought a battered 1969 VW squareback for 500 bucks, with an eye toward getting it back on the road.

The tale involves not only a family bond but also the bond we form with things, be they iPhones, computers, or cars. It also speaks of how these two types of bonds are sometimes themselves bound together.… Read more

"Star Wars" in 3D is still out in theaters, but why not make some real 3D Star Wars of your own this weekend?

For barely $10 worth of supplies, you can fight off the winter blues with everybody's favorite mercenary Wookiee, Chewbacca. In the second installment of our crafts series courtesy of Bonnie Burton's "The Star Wars Craft Book," we've turned him into a tissue box cover. Raaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwrrn! … Read more

George Lucas has just released his version of "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace" in 3D, but c'mon--the guy believes Greedo shot first. Why not make your own little Star Wars universe?

For around $20 or less, supplies from your local arts and crafts supplies store can put you well on your way toward creating your own Star Wars-themed puppets, cat toys, tissue box covers, flower vases, and more. In the first of a Crave series based on projects from Bonnie Burton's "The Star Wars Craft Book", a crack team of crafters fights … Read more

What do you get when you mix a bunch of creative kids with copper wire, glue guns, and dead toy parts? Roller-skating bears and a Two-Hump Wump, to name just a few things.

More than 500 families registered for yesterday's Open Make at San Francisco's hands-on Exploratorium science museum. The event, a collaboration between the Exploratorium, Make magazine, and Pixar Animation Studios, was aimed at giving young makers a forum for learning new skills, collaborating with peers, and showing off their talents.

Open Make will take place once a month through April. Yesterday's theme was toys, with young tinkerers building scribbling machines and kinetic contraptions from wire, perfecting tricky tops, and creating cool-looking art with kaleidoscopes. Click on the gallery below to see the next generation of makers at work. … Read more

'Tis the season to be jolly. And a lot of us are during the holidays, if statistical analyses of our tweets provide sufficient measure.

But overall happiness appears to be on a gradual decline since 2009, according to a University of Vermont analysis of some 46 billion words tweeted by 63 million users since 2009.

The team compared a wide range of words and phrases--including hahaha and lol--to "happiness scores" of the 10,000 most common English words. Words such as happy and laughter appear at the top of the 1-to-9 scale, while terrorist gets 1.30.

Not … Read more

I've seen my fair share of obsessive fans. Walter Denlinger should be in the high priesthood of modeling fanatics.

I'm talking about Warhammer 40,000, a sci-fi tabletop-miniatures war game that Denlinger has been playing for about 25 years.

"Scratch-building your own tanks and vehicles back in the day was a matter of necessity," says Denlinger. "Nowadays, players are spoiled for choice when it comes to models, but I'm still 'old school' and prefer to convert and build my own."

Based in San Francisco, Denlinger produces terrifying little models for Warhammer (aka 40K) out of his workshop Irondog Studios. His modeling has become a full-time job, allowing him to spend more time at home with his daughters.

"My materials of choice are plastic sheets and tubing, and whatever found objects I come across. I'm one of those trash-to-treasure guys who can find a use for almost anything and will sometimes even center an entire project based on found objects. Many of the models I build are for my personal collection for use in 40K games.

"I also build and paint models on commission for clients who hire me through my Web site. Most of my customers generally want to play the game with nicely painted models but don't have the time or inclination to mess with the 'hobby' end of things. Other clients like to paint their own models, but hire me to do the modeling for them." … Read more