Crave

DIY'er Steve Hoefer used a piezo speaker, a tiny gear reduction motor, an Arduino, and a PVC pipe to make his secret-knock door lock.

(Credit: Steve Hoefer)

I've been hearing more and more about the Arduino microcontroller project lately, and this is by far one of the coolest uses for it I've seen. Arduino is an open-source hardware project meant for easy prototyping of hardware ideas. This is Steve Hoefer's great vision for a mechanism that opens a door when it detects a secret knock. Here it is in action:

As you can see, he's programmed the microcontroller to listen for a specific knock sequence. When it hears it, it turns the deadbolt, meaning you can open the door. It's a simple but genius idea.

We're hoping something like this comes to market. Sure, it's not the most secure idea in the world, but it's fun enough that it'd be great for the inside of homes or backyard sheds or underground sex dungeons.

(Credit: ChinaGrabber)

Somehow, I just cannot take the Spy Coke Can DVR seriously. No, it's not the misspelled "Classic" on the red can. Rather, I'm trying to imagine how people will react when they pick up the drink and try to pop it open.

The gizmo comes with 4GB of onboard memory, which is more than enough for the 640x480-pixel videos it can record. The bottom of the tin opens up to reveal a power switch, USB port, and record/save button. For $17 more, you get a remote control that toggles start and stop for movie capture. Too bad it doesn't come in matching Coke can design.

Among all the spy cameras we've featured on Crave, this one probably won't generate as much fizz, and yes, the pun's intended.

(Source: Crave Asia via Gizmodo)

(Credit: Herobuilders.com)

We should have seen this one coming. Richard Heene, much better known these days as "Balloon Boy's dad," has been made into an action figure.

Oxford, Conn.-based Herobuilders.com--whose action figures include Sarah Palin, Elliott Spitzer, and Joe the Plumber--is newly out with the Heene model. It sports a T-shirt with an arrow that points upward and the text "I'm with stupid." Attic box, confused 6-year-old boy, and gaggle of reporters not included.

The action figure costs $34.95, which seems a bit pricey given that you can get an entire Balloon Boy Halloween costume kit from Canadian company Plantraco Microflight for just $20. That paraphernalia includes a 38-inch-diameter silver helium balloon, an "As Seen on CNN Sticker," and a 10-foot string.

Plantraco, a maker of ready-to-fly airplanes, suggests costume wearers ring the doorbell and declare, "I'm supposed to be flying in there, but my dad said to stay in the box for the show!" It also recommends keeping a pitchfork handy, as "pitchforks are a time-tested and true method of keeping a balloon on the ground after it makes a landing."

And to round out your Balloon Boy parody experience, might we suggest listening to "The Ballad of Balloon Boy" by CNET's very own Dan Ackerman.

(Credit: Strapya World)

Scrap the puchipuchi pudding. I want this. Takara Tomy's Sakasa Master Japan Voice Recorder (1,344 yen, $14.60) promises even more crazy, pointless fun for collectors of all things chindogu (un-useful gadgets) from Japan.

This one plays back what you've recorded in reverse. That's right. Who cares if nobody ever gets you? We don't even get this! But hey, it's all in good fun, especially when you can mix your own subliminal messages into the background of piped-in music, like this one to your boss: !esiar a em eviG. (Give me a raise!)

(Source: Crave Asia via Tokyo Mango)

(Credit: Dr. Romanelli, Medicom Toys)

And so, the enigma that is the Hello Kitty phenomenon continues--this time with the release of the Anatomy collection by designer Darren Romanelli, aka Dr. Romanelli, in collaboration with Medicom Toy.

Any gut feelings you may have about the silent one's unexplainable success are put to rest with an anatomical peek at the feline's (rather inaccurate) inner cavity, which is, how shall we put it? Uber cute! So now we know the truth, and it's all powered by a kawaii (Japanese for cute) red heart and what seems to be four saccharine sweet kitty clones.

It's just too bad you can't pop out the innards, so you can rearrange them any which way you like. Due out November in Japan.

(Source: Crave Asia via High Snobiety)

The Stylophone Beatbox, in all its retro, toilet-shaped glory.

(Credit: 100milligrams)

Few things are as universally awesome as a cheap keyboard or drum machine. As a child of the '80s, I can vividly remember the first time I got my hands on a toy Casio keyboard and spent the afternoon sampling obscenities into the built-in microphone and playing through all the different preset sounds (I can still hear the Casio demo song in my head).

The Stylophone Beatbox ($25) is a retro music toy of a slightly different breed than my Casio, fusing together the design of a 1967 Stylophone pocket synthesizer with the sampled percussion layout of a modern day Akai MPC or Roland HandSonic.

However you choose to categorize it, the Stylophone Beatbox is exactly the sort of weird, noisy, cheap piece of tech I go nuts for. It's surprisingly sophisticated, too, allowing you to record loops of sounds, route in an MP3 player, and even adjust pitch and tempo. Check out some clever demo videos after the break.... Read more

Why is Luigi the queen and not Princess Peach?

(Credit: Think Geek)

I've seen more than a few licensed-character editions of chess, but I have to admit, this one is kinda cute.

This chess set, available for $39.99 from Think Geek, features 32 hand-painted characters from the Super Mario Bros. series of video games, with the villains on one side and our heroes on the other.

I don't know that I would get this--not because I don't like it, but because I totally suck at chess. My strategy would consist of jumping the Mario piece around the board, shouting "It's-a meeee, Mario!"

Yeah. Viswanathan Anand really has nothing to worry about.

OmniZero carries Takeshi Maeda at Robo-One.

(Credit: Video screenshot by Tim Hornyak/CNET)

Japanese robot builder Takeshi Maeda is blowing minds with an exciting demo of the latest version of his OmniZero robot.

The ninth generation of OmniZero can transform from bipedal fighting machine into a rolling vehicle as well as a walking seat (See it in action in the video below). The shape-changing robot is 3.4 feet tall and weighs in at 55 pounds.

Maeda, who weighs about 115 pounds, can ride piggyback on OmniZero when its head tilts back. The front wheels serve as handholds. In chair mode, the robot can change direction but doesn't seem able to move too well while carrying its creator.

Maeda showed it off at Robo-One 16, a popular robot combat tournament that was held in Toyama City over the weekend. The machine transformed into car mode and rolled into the ring.

OmniZero towered over opponents and took down AerobattlerMonstar for the championship, according to Robot Watch.

OmniZero has been delighting robotics fans since around 2003. The fourth generation could climb a ladder, skip rope, and break eggs.

Maeda has been involved with Japanese robot start-up Vstone, which operates a robot hobby shop in Tokyo's Akihabara, as well as Team Osaka, a competitor in the RoboCup international robot soccer tournament.

(Via Robot Watch)

(Credit: Technabob)

If you feel like your co-workers just don't ostracize you enough, these fuzzy bear and rabbit USB hand warmers are sure to do the trick. "Why does that guy have his hands jammed into a stuffed animal's esophagus?" they'll ask.

Though I've had the good fortune to have never worked in an office, I have seen every episode of "The Office" and thus feel qualified to say that wearing these things are a surefire way to turn you into a weirder, colder, and furrier version of Dwight (or Gareth, or whoever fills that role in the Australian, Quebecoise, etc. versions).

They're a little bit cute and a lot bit creepy, and they're available for $22.50 per pair.

This story originally appeared on Gizmodo.