Posts Written by Paul Strauss

Finnish designer J. Saaranen’s Reppo II is a 21st century boombox: In its hardshell case is an integrated amp, coaxial speakers and enough room for a six-pack of Bud.

Formerly known as as the EcoBook, the Asus Bamboo Series of notebooks target green users with a bamboo case and efficient power usage; choose from 11.1 and 12.1 inch models.

Marka27’s 16″ tall Minigods have an ace up their sleeve chest — these limited edition vinyls also double as speakers, with a mini-jack and battery-powered internal amp.

Twice aged for 18 years in American and premium French oak casks, Bruichladdich’s single malt scotch whisky has a rich, syrupy aroma and a viscous, buttery taste.

There’s nothing like creating a work of art with brute-force: the gang at Mythbusters painted the Mona Lisa in less than a second with an 1100 barrel paintball gun.

Created by design student Da Feng, the GYM Concept Car is plug-in electric car that can be powered by the driver using the bench press and other exercise machines inside.

The Black Stealth Helicopter isn’t the first dual rotor RC copter, but at $30 it’s one of the most affordable. The 3-channel copter can moves up, down, left, right, forwards and backwards.

October 28th can’t come soon enough; Bethesda recently released five Fallout 3 gameplay vids at PAX. The first one is above, but be sure to check out the remaining four here.

J.Fold’s Loungemaster wallet is sharp in black and orange, with a perforated leather exterior. It has eight microfiber bonded card slots, two hidden slots and a bill compartment.

If you’re gonna splurge on an axe, we suggest this Harley Davidson Fender Stratocaster Guitar; it and two of its brothers are being auctioned off, with proceeds going to the MDA.

We’ve already seen quite a few of its TV ads lately, but this trailer for the upcoming Infinite Undiscovery has us drooling at the CGI-level gameplay animations. It’s coming 9/2.

Greg Abbott’s appropriately named Monsters t-shirt packs in all the disfigured miscreants you could ever want; even better: $2 of your purchase gets donated to one of six charities.

Icon’s Squad2 Mil Spec Pack is a highly visible, heavily pocketed backpack for motorcyclists whose orange colors meet military specs. It can stow a 15″ laptop and a helmet.

These sweet limited edition Change The Thought posters by Chris Cox have a 70s/retro style; they’re printed on thick 100 lb. A3 paper and are signed and numbered by the artist.

There are iPod docks, and there’s Alesis’ TransActive Mobile: despite packing only 22 watts, this speaker is ideal for outdoor parties. No outlet? It runs on a rechargeable battery.

BMW’s versatile R 1200 GS gets a modest 5% bump to 105 HP over last year along with ergonomic upgrades; this go-anywhere bike has sport, normal, comfort and off-road settings.

The Shuttle Atom is low cost entrant to the nettop category (Intel Atom powered mini desktops); it consumes only 23 watts when idle, is whisper quiet and still squeezes in 4 USB ports.

The ESA continues to handily best NASA in terms of style with its ExoMars Rover, which has more bling than an Escalade at a Lakers game. It’ll arrive at the Red Planet in 2014.

Sony’s Walkman S-Series is like a Zune flash with brushed metal and the same price points. The 2″ screen and 7.5mm thickness are nice, but that may change with the new Nano.

A mix of Monty Python and steampunk, Machinarium is a 2D adventure game by indie developers Amanita Design. The trailer above is gorgeous; look for it in the first half of 2009.

Designer Jeff Sheldon’s Ugmonk brand is a simple and clean alternative to complex, cluttered designs; his Lowercase tee’s singular focus on the alphabet is strangely refreshing.

Make every day Emergence Day with these amazingly detailed Gears of War action figures by NECA. Series 2 includes Fenix and Santiago, but we most like the Theron Guards.

Montres De Luxe’s Black Avio Nato watch has a bit of a retro/rugged flair but remains stylish. We dig the contrast between the military green strap and the densely packed black face.