halloween

Okay, it's not a costume so much as it is a cheap helmet made from a cardboard box. But it's mine, it's nerdy, and it's something I'm strangely proud of.

Out of the five games that came with The Orange Box, Portal turned out to be the surprise hit. Sure, lots of people looked forward to Team Fortress 2 and Half-Life 2 Episode 2, but Valve's crazy little space-warping puzzle-adventure managed to receive the most praise from even the most jaded reviewers (not-work-safe language in link). It was short, but chock-full of clever, challenging … Read more

Well-built software that can inspire projects and streamline productivity is powerful indeed, but ill-conceived programs, too, can haunt your dreams. In this week's, CNET Top 5 video (also see below), editor Tom Merritt shares five terrifically bad apps you'd most likely encounter in a dark alley of your computer's recycle bin. This Chuck Norris Facts Widget is particularly chilling.

Plenty more ghoulish and gleeful downloads are standing by to ease you into the Halloween spirit. Three skeletons in pointed hats boogie down by moonlight (and UV lamplight) in Halloween Dance 3D Screensaver, a personal favorite. Your browser … Read more

Making a Cylon Jack-o-Lantern will be a piece of cake--er, pie--with the Pumpkin Gutter, a $12 drill attachment that lets you zip through the sticky pumpkin prep stage and get right to carving. All you have to do is cut a hole in the top of the pumpkin, use the dishwasher-safe Pumpkin Gutter to loosen the strings and thin out the walls, and then dump the guts out. The tool even leaves the seeds intact for those who like to turn them into snacks.

We're always wary of seasonal gadgets, which often turn out to be a waste of … Read more

Now that he's pled guilty to lewd conduct in a men's bathroom in the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, some people have asserted that Idaho senator Larry Craig probably wants to wear a bag on his head for the rest of his human existence. Which is why this downloadable Halloween costume quick-fix is even better.

Just print out what they tell you to, and glue it on a paper bag. Don't forget the U.S. Senate seal for the back--"to let others know who you are, and that you are here to stay." Then chuck … Read more

Is it a childhood nightmare, a modernized niche of folklore, a box-office-tested horror film staple, an ironic riff on American consumerism, or simply an undead corpse hungry for fresh human brains?

Maybe it's all of the above. On Saturday at noon, somewhere around 200 zombies assembled at a bar in midtown Manhattan and proceeded to terrorize the city well into the night. This was Zombiecon 2007, the third annual edition of the pre-Halloween flash mob, and these reanimated corpses took the day very seriously. Among the crowd were undead clowns, airline pilots, ballerinas, doctors, chefs, Roman generals, prom couples, and tennis players. There were also zombified versions of Santa Claus, Pirates of the Caribbean protagonist Captain Jack Sparrow, singer Amy Winehouse, and author Hunter S. Thompson.

(Others, like yours truly, just spruced up jeans and a T-shirt with theatrical blood and white face paint.)

Also spotted: Lindsay Campbell, host of video blog Wallstrip, in a full-on goth-zombie ensemble as she interviewed fellow members of the undead for the cameras.… Read more

Yeah, yeah, I know. Halloween was yesterday. No more "spooky" gadgets allowed on Crave until next October.

But I couldn't resist Podstar's sweet new Diablo Spectrum skins for the 2GB iPod Nano, which I found on Notcot. Not only do they keep your little iPod safe from bumps and scratches, these skins have horns. And a tail. And even a crazy little earring. They come in six colors, from "Black Jack" to "Martial Martian."

The Diablo Spectrum skins are so cool-looking, they just might be an exception to the "devil horns … Read more

This impressive Halloween costume, courtesy of CollegeHumor, looks way too uncomfortable to wear to any kind of party. But I'm seriously jealous of the amount of time that the creator has on his hands.

P.S.: If the video below doesn't automatically appear, click on the white space.

There's a lot of bad Halloween gadgetry out there. Really bad. But this one actually looks halfway decent, as this kind of stuff goes, maybe because it's designed by a Swiss company. (We didn't know Halloween was big in Switzerland.) Unlike most schlock associated with the holiday, this ghost mouse might be something you'd want to keep using after Oct. 31. Is Halloween over yet?

(Photo: Pat Says Now)

Crave is an equal-opportunity blog, even when it comes to jack-o'-lanterns. So we feel obligated, after having featured a PC pumpkin the other day, to provide equal space for this step-by-step guide to create your own Mac-o-lantern. We're doing our best to find a Linux pumpkin next.

(Photo: The Joy of Tech)