Geek culture

The world of "Star Wars" fan fashion is a wild and wonderful place full of Wampa-skin dresses and Boba Fett ski hats. No outfit is complete without a great pair of shoes, however. Etsy seller DeckoFab offers a pretty stunning set of "Star Wars" wedges.

The made-to-order wedges are crafted from decoupage with pictures of Stormtroopers, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Darth Vader plastered across them. DeckoFab also takes custom orders, so you could specify an all-Jar Jar Binks pair if you really want to be obnoxious.… Read more

I confess that I have never bought a Groupon, because it always seemed to require paying money to do something I didn't want to do.

I feared I might feel the same way about listening to former Groupon CEO Andrew Mason's new album "Hardly Workin'."

I had understood that Mason was a bit of a wag and a prankster, and I thought that when his opus hit iTunes Tuesday morning there might be, well, a Groupon. Or at least a deal.… Read more

Christina Stephens has been chronicling her journey from a foot crush injury through amputation and adapting to a prosthetic leg on her Facebook page, Amputee OT. While her standard prosthetic leg is custom made and fitted to her, she's also willing to experiment a bit, as shown by her Legoleg, a prosthetic leg crafted from Legos.

Stephens, an occupational therapist and clinical researcher, got the idea from a research lab co-worker, who joked she should make a leg from Legos. Most people would have laughed and left it there. Stephens laughed and went home to make it happen.… Read more

If you've never seen sweaty, headband-wearing dwarves dance to cheesy music, then you should check out the latest "The Hobbit" video diary from Director Peter Jackson.

Though primary shooting for the next two movies wrapped in 2012, Jackson, the actors, and the crew returned to New Zealand in May to kick off a 10-week pick-up shooting schedule.

After many months of inactivity, it takes a lot of work to get a billion dollar movie franchise rolling again -- especially in a remote locale like New Zealand. To ensure Jackson gets those perfect shots needed to complete "The Desolation of Smaug" and "There and Back Again," crews must reopen and modify existing sets and actors must revisit familiar scenes.… Read more

It's been said that smell ties directly and strongly to our memories, yet our ability to capture important moments is based almost entirely around our other senses. We take photographs and record audio and video, but a photo just doesn't convey the smell of cut grass and flowers on your wedding day.

Designer Amy Radcliffe has developed an odor-capturing "camera" based on technology developed for the perfume industry. Her device is called Madeleine. "The Madeleine works in much the same way as a 35mm camera," Radcliffe writes. "Just as the camera records the light information of a visual in order to create a replica The Madeleine records the molecular information of a smell."… Read more

Designers and makers have been busy imagining uses for 3D printers, ranging from casts to houses to duck feet. Vehicle designer Nir Siegel doesn't just want to 3D-print cars, he wants them to assemble themselves.

Siegel's Genesis concept would involve the delivery of a specialized 3D printer to a car buyer. The printer would then print out a car all around itself to match the buyer's specifications.… Read more

Ann Makosinski is a 15-year-old with a flashlight obsession. She won a bronze award for a piezoelectric flashlight at the Canada-Wide Science Fair last year. This year, her battery-free Hollow Flashlight has taken her all the way to the top-15 finalists of the Google Science Fair.

Makosinski was inspired by the idea that the human body is like a walking 100-watt lightbulb with untapped thermal energy potential. She decided to build a flashlight powered only by the warmth of a hand.

The basis for the Hollow Flashlight is Peltier tiles, tiles that produce electricity when one side is heated and the other side cooled.… Read more

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Ants aren't the only ones destroying electronics: Bored pets are, too.

- Snapcat: A photo app for cat selfies.

- Stop the presses: Today is the last day to send a telegram in India.

- RIP Google Reader: Today it is kaput.

- What happens when a guy logs in under his wife's gamer tag? Understanding sexism in gaming.

- Computer and printer prices to rise in EU because you can print copywritten stuff.… Read more

At last, the mother of all mashups is upon us. Boba Fett has met the Bard, and the result is "William Shakespeare's Star Wars: Verily, a New Hope."

Many a nerdy writer type will surely have the same initial reaction I did upon learning of such a brilliant piece of literary pop culture/hipster-clout-raising coffee table candy: searing jealousy for not having thought of it first. Then I read on to learn that the author, Ph.D. and all-around smart guy Ian Doescher, not only rewrote "A New Hope" in the style of Bill Shakespeare, but also wrote it completely in iambic pentameter, a feat for which a very few of us are cut out to even attempt, let alone pull off.… Read more