Back in the 1990s, Microsoft dropped its first virtual assistant onto PCs with Clippy, a talking paperclip designed to help guide us in the use of our computers. Instead, Clippy was annoying, and most of us looked for a quick way to disable the feature. Great Big Story sat down for a few minutes with illustrator Kevan Atteberry, the man who designed the character.

The steampunk world of Clockwork Revolution bears more than a passing resemblance to BioShock: Infinite, but it’s the start of a new game franchise. The first-person RPG has you traveling through time to witness key moments in the history of Avalon, and your decisions and actions can have profound effects on the city’s future.

If you’re a cat left home all day, you might feel lonely. Musician The Kiffness spotted a video of a seemingly forlorn house cat and wrote music and lyrics for the kitty’s melancholy thoughts. Seriously, he’s only got two crumbs of food left! Kiffness fans and cat lovers can grab the track on Spotify and Apple Music on 6.16.23.

The Hydraulic Press Channel created a shiny new tool for showing off the destructive power of their industrial press. The upgraded WormMaker 5,000,0000 is made from thick acrylic, making it easy to see what’s going on as items get smashed and emerge like a fountain from the holes on top. It’s great at smooshing fruits, but can it handle candles?

The first officially-licensed Xbox wireless arcade controller looks like a winner. It has ten arcade-quality buttons and a joystick and is fully programmable. Plus 8BitDo supports modding by using standard button sizes and a Sanwa mounting plate. Compatible with Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows 10/11. Pre-orders start shipping on 6.30.2023.

This collection of four books from wilderness expert and author Dave Canterbury includes everything you ever wanted to know about thriving in the wild. The combined reference guides include over 1000 pages of techniques for building shelters, trapping, gathering, and cooking, along with first aid and survival.

A standard Rubik’s Cube has six faces, each with a 3×3 grid of colored blocks. But there are dozens of other Rubik’s variants, ranging from a single block to hundreds of blocks. Hafu Go got together with puzzle-solving expert SoupTimmy to work through progressively more challenging versions of the cube, all the way up to the $1000+ Impossible Cube.

This unusual pocket tool can drive screws either straight on or at a 90º angle. It’s made from lightweight titanium alloy, and it has a hidden compartment inside that can hold two driver bits. Available in shiny silver or matte grey finishes.

Maker Tim Sway has built a couple of “0% wood” instruments in the past, including an acrylic bass guitar, and another made from Corian. This time, he decided to build something that’s much more reliant on the aural properties of its construction – an acoustic guitar. As you’ll see, it was a very challenging and frustrating project.

Enjoy hot meals and beverages while camping with Arnaud’s lightweight rocket stove. The FireTower breaks down to the size of a small book, and is engineered for optimal airflow and efficiency. It’s fueled by adding sticks, twigs, or other biofuels to its side feeder. Made from durable stainless steel and weights just 1.1 pounds.

Thor’s mighty hammer can only be lifted by those who are worthy. Random Hands qualified for the feat by building their own Mjolnir, cutting apart an old bench anvil, attaching laser-cut decorations, lathing a metal handle, then covering it with wood and metal rings. Watching the grinder remove the old surface is so satisfying.

Try opening a beer with your jaws, and you might chip a tooth. Try with a pretzel, and you’ll get a pile of crumbs. But Fred’s Beer Pretzel has a proper bottle opener built into its bottom, assuring you of a properly opened bottle every time. It also doubles as a chip clip.

We love having a deck to hang out on when the weather is nice. If you don’t have a lot of space to work with on your deck, check out this motorized dining table and benches. Dr. Decks created this unique furniture that remains hidden as part of the deck boards until needed. They also built a hidden BBQ grill and lounge chair.

Core Equipment’s saucer-shaped chair offers a cozy, oversized seating area, along with a quilted seat and a padded headrest. Its fold-up steel frame can hold up to 300 lb, and it includes a built-in cupholder, and a carrying bag. Available in grey or wine red.

Factory videos aren’t always the most soothing things to watch, especially those with lots of loud machinery. However, this footage from Japan’s Plachina Fountain Pen Company is about as calming as they come. Along the way, you’ll see how strips of metal are stamped and shaped to form pen nibs, then delicately placed into the body of each pen by hand.

These unique ceramic cups from Historically Modern Designs are perfect for sipping tequila and mezcal. Their bowl shape is inspired by traditional Mexican copitas, but with a more contemporary style. Each volcanic ash ceramic cup has a wide rim to concentrate aromas. Sold in a set of two. Also available in glass.

Most furniture has a structure made out of wood or metal. But HomeMadeModern wanted to see if it was possible to fabricate a table entirely from epoxy resin. He started by making a wood prototype, then used those parts to create silicone molds to cast the resin. The finished piece is sturdy and has a truly unique look.

Keep your desk tidy in just the way you like it with these modular hexagon desk organizers from Ewartwoods. They’re available as a pen holder, one-, two-, or three-part trays, a cup holder, a business card holder, phone holder, and more. They can be lined with fabric or cork if you don’t want bare wood.

Kitchen knives are the right size for chopping veggies and butchering meats. But that didn’t stop Faraway Forge from making this impractical chef’s knife just to prove that it could be done. Its blade started as a rusty piece of scrap metal, and the finished piece looks more appropriate for combat than for cooking.

This high-tech espresso machine makes five different kinds of coffee drinks with the push of a button. Choose from regular coffee, espresso, cappuccino, latte, or iced coffee. Simply fill it with water, beans, and milk, and it does all the work. It also offers adjustable settings for strength, milk, and foam levels.

Artist Duane Perera is a master at his craft. He makes playful miniature scenes inspired by pop culture. Each diorama features characters enjoying everyday life, like playing video games, listening to CDs, or record shopping. His making of video for his Scarface plays NES diorama is priceless. Duane sells prints of his work on Redbubble, and we want all of them.

Nicolas Cage and Joel Kinnaman star in this low-budget drama about a man who finds himself held at gunpoint by a strange and trigger-happy passenger who ends up taking him on the ride of his life. Expect plenty of scenery chewing in this one. In theaters and on-demand 7.28.2023.

After building LEGO cars that can climb obstacles, the Brick Experiment Channel is back with another vehicular test. This time, the goal was to build LEGO cars that can cross a gap in the road. There are many variables at play in making the most capable vehicle, from wheel size and count to frame length and weight distribution.