Cassette tapes, those chunky ‘80s and ‘90s throwbacks, are sneaking back into the spotlight. Riding the wave of vinyl’s comeback and the allure of tangible media, Maxell’s MXCP-P100 portable cassette player is an interesting blend of old-school aesthetics and new-school tech. This $90 gadget plays your long-forgotten mixtapes and beams their fuzzy charm to Bluetooth headphones, feeling like a time machine you can juice up with a USB-C cable.
In a world chasing razor-thin laptops, GPD’s MicroPC 2 sticks a middle finger to the trend. This pocket-sized beast doesn’t just shrink a laptop—it reinvents what portable computing can mean. At a tiny 6.7 by 4.3 by 0.9 inches and a featherlight 490 grams, it’s less a laptop and more a techie’s Swiss Army knife, built for IT pros, field engineers, and gadget lovers who want power on the go.
Beyblades, those spinning tops that turned kids’ playtime into epic arena showdowns, thrive on barely controlled chaos. But Jon Bringus, an inventor with a knack for breaking boundaries, has cranked these toys into overdrive, creating a heart-pounding, slightly reckless spectacle with 3D printing and some serious engineering skills.
Humanoid robots used to be the kind of thing you’d only see in big-budget projects, but now they’re showing up in garages and basements, thanks to the Berkeley Humanoid Lite. This open-source, 3D-printed installation from UC Berkeley’s engineering crew is as welcoming to newcomers as it is innovative, coming in at under $5,000 and ready to shake up how we interact with robotics.
Photo credit: YusufK80
A gamer going by YusufK80 has lit up the internet with a wild setup: an ASUS TUF gaming laptop flipped upside down to play Counter-Strike. “I’ve been running it like this for ages, especially for FPS games like CS, and it’s honestly great,” they shared, explaining how the topsy-turvy position gets the screen closer to eye level and clears desk space for a proper keyboard and mouse.
One-Netbook is set to finally launch the OneXSugar Sugar 1 on Indiegogo next month, an Android-powered handheld that’s as wild as it is inventive, rocking a dual-screen, shape-shifting design that feels like a tribute to Nintendo DS fans.
A 2004 Toyota Prius, reborn as a Tesla Cybertruck-inspired police car spoof called the “Cybercop,” fetched $4,550 at a charity auction on eBay, with all proceeds going to support families of fallen officers. Crafted by Johnny Lange, a Utah gearhead who hauls specialty vehicles for a living, this wild creation is half bonkers, half brilliant—a rolling testament to DIY grit and car-world humor.
YouTuber ProfessorBoots has cooked up something special: a 3D-printed remote-controlled dump truck that’s as much a desk toy as it is a jaw-dropping conversation starter. Don’t expect to see this beast on a construction site, but it’s got enough smarts to steal the show anywhere.
The 256GB Samsung PRO Ultimate microSD memory card is built for high performance applications, and you can get one for $24.99 after clipping the on-page $10 off coupon, originally $41.99. This UHS-I card is a speed demon, tearing through read speeds up to 200MB/s and write speeds hitting 130MB/s, pushing the limits of what its class can do. Product page.
Surveying a construction site used to mean long days of sweaty work, pounding stakes into the ground, and hoping your measurements didn’t go wonky. Then along comes CivDot, a nimble little robot from Civ Robotics that’s turning that old grind into something almost magical.